MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Local Councillors

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on steps to increase the diversity of local councillors.

Meg Munn: The independent Commission on Local Councillors, announced by my right hon. Friend the Member for Bolton, West (Ruth Kelly) on 8 February, has been set up to consider how a more diverse range of people, including more women, can be encouraged and supported to become councillors so that communities are better represented. The Commission is looking at the range of barriers preventing women, and other under represented groups such as from the BME community and younger people, from standing, including for example time requirement and public perception of the role of councillors. The Commission is expected to report to the Secretary of State with its recommendations in the autumn.

Age Discrimination

Paul Burstow: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what plans she has to prevent age discrimination in the provision of goods and services.

Meg Munn: The Government are considering whether there is a case for introducing legislation to prohibit harmful age discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services as part of the Discrimination Law Review. The proposals emerging from the review will be published for public consultation later this month.

Women and Work Commission

David Taylor: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what progress has been made in the last 12 months in taking forward the recommendations of the Women and Work Commission; and if she will make a statement.

Meg Munn: On 2 April we launched a report setting out the comprehensive programme of action being taken forward by Government to reduce the gender pay and opportunities gap one year on from the Women and Work Commission's recommendations. This included: details of a £500,000 fund to create more quality part-time work; the development of an Equality Check Tool to allow employers to see where they could improve their practices in relation to gender equality issues. I will also continue to chair a project board of Whitehall officials to drive forward the women's economic participation agenda.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agriculture: Subsidies

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 27 November 2006,  Official Report, column 307W, on the Rural Payments Agency, 
	(1)  when he expects analysis by constituency of claimants and payments made under the single payment scheme to be published; and where the information will be made available;
	(2)  when he expects analysis by constituency of claimants and payments made under the Single Payment Scheme to be published; and where the information will be made available.

Barry Gardiner: holding answer 2 May 2007
	Detailed analysis of all the payments made under the 2005 single payment scheme is not yet available. Once the remaining 2005 scheme payments have been completed, a decision will be taken on the level of detail that will be published.

Bees

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the value was of  (a) UK honey production and  (b) pollination services provided by beekeepers in (i) 2004, (ii) 2005 and (iii) 2006.

Barry Gardiner: The value of honey production in the UK in 2004 was £17.3 million and in both 2005 and 2006 was approximately £18 million per year. On the basis of an economic evaluation in 2001, the estimated economic value of crops grown commercially in the UK that benefit from bee pollination is £120 million to £200 million per year.

Carbon Emissions

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the reduction required in UK carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 if the UK is to meet its share in an international goal of stabilising greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at between 450 and 550 ppm of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Ian Pearson: There is no simple relationship between a long-term stabilisation goal and the pathways required to get there. The most recent science indicates that to stabilise at between 450 and 550 ppm CO2 equivalent, global greenhouse gas emissions would need to fall by between 10 per cent. and 65 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2050.
	The UK's target of a 60 per cent. reduction in carbon dioxide emissions is consistent with this approach. However, we recognise that we will need to keep this goal under review in the light of emerging scientific evidence and other developments.

Coastal Areas

Anthony D Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he intends to take in response to the Communities and Local Government Committee's report on Coastal Towns.

Barry Gardiner: My Department is considering the issues and contributing to the Government's Response.

Coastal Erosion

Anthony D Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much coastal erosion occurred on the UK's coastline in each of the last 30 years for which figures are available.

Ian Pearson: DEFRA has overall policy responsibility for coastal erosion risk in England and grant aids local authority improvement projects to reduce this risk, but does not build defences, nor direct the authorities on which specific projects to undertake. Management of coastal erosion risk and associated monitoring is the responsibility of the relevant local authority in each area.
	DEFRA does not measure the extent of coastal erosion or hold these figures centrally. Erosion risk will vary around the coastline depending on local conditions and defences in place. DEFRA has encouraged the relevant authorities to produce Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) which provide large-scale assessments of the risks associated with coastal processes and present long term policy frameworks to manage them in a sustainable manner. In 2001, DEFRA funded a national study of information on long term coastal processes and evolution over the next century (Futurecoast). This is designed to be used by coastal authorities to inform their current revisions of SMPs.
	The then Office of Science and Technology's Foresight Future Flooding report, published in 2004, also considered possible rates of coastal erosion under different scenarios over the next 80 years.

Darwin Initiative

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding and other resources have been  (a) spent in each of the last three financial years and  (b) allocated for each of the next three financial years for the Darwin Initiative fund.

Barry Gardiner: The information is as follows:
	 (a) Expenditure on the Darwin Initiative in each of the last three years was as follows:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2003-04 3.7 
			 2004-05 4.5 
			 2005-06 6.7 
		
	
	It is still too early to provide accurate and verified figures for expenditure under the Darwin Initiative for the 2006-07 financial year.
	 (b) The budget is £7 million for this financial year (2007-08). The allocation for future years will be determined in light of the outcome of the comprehensive spending review.

Departments: Climate Change

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff in his Department were employed on matters relating to climate change in each year since 2000.

Barry Gardiner: holding answer 1 May 2007
	 The information requested cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.

Departments: Climate Change

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff are employed by the Office of Climate Change, broken down by salary band.

Barry Gardiner: holding answer 1 May 2007
	 The number of staff employed in the Office for Climate Change on 31 March 2007 taken from the central HR Database was as follows:
	
		
			   Number of staff 
			 AO 3.00 
			 HEO 10.00 
			 SEO 1.00 
			 Grade 7 5.00 
			 Grade 6 2.00 
			 SCS 4.60 
			 Total 25.60 
		
	
	The numbers shown are full-time equivalents and exclude employment agency temporary staff, consultants and contractors.

Departments: Pressure Groups

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what meetings took place between Ministers and outside interest groups between 1 January and 31 March; and what the date of each such meeting was.

Barry Gardiner: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Ministers and officials meet a large number of people and groups in the course of their official duties.

Departments: Renewable Energy

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much energy in kilowatt hours was purchased by his Department from renewable sources in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Ian Pearson: The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs purchased a total of 45,968,886 kilowatt hours from renewable sources in 2005-06. This equates to 63 per cent. of its total electricity and 27 per cent. of its total energy consumed.
	Cross Government targets mandate Departments to source at least 10 per cent. of their electricity from renewable sources by 2008.

Farmers: Resignations

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of farmers who left the agricultural sector in Suffolk in each year since 1997.

Barry Gardiner: Figures from the Agricultural and Horticultural Survey indicate labour on registered holdings at June each year. These figures therefore show net change only in the numbers of farmers.
	
		
			  Agricultural labour force in Suffolk 
			   Total farmers, partners, directors and spouses (if working on the holding)  Total labour 
			 1997 4,895 11,791 
			 1998 4,815 12,160 
			 1999 4,641 11,173 
			 2000 5,476 11,211 
			 2001 5,830 11,582 
			 2002 5,637 10,785 
			 2003 5,498 10,208 
			 2004 5,699 10,683 
			 2005 5,635 10,621 
			 2006 5,778 10,293 
			  Notes:  (a) Figures prior to 2000 are for main holdings only. Figures from 2000 onwards include all holdings. A minor holding has to meet all of the following conditions:  (i) the total area less than six hectares (ii) the labour requirement is estimated to be less than 100 standard person days (iii) there is no regular full time farmer or worker (iv) the glasshouse area is less than 100 square metres (v) the occupier does not farm another holding  (b) Since the annual June Survey is now based on a sample estimates have been made for those not surveyed.  (c) Due to the introduction of new labour questions in 1998 figures prior to this year are not directly comparable with earlier year's results.  (d) Due to a register improvement exercise in 2001 labour figures prior to this are not directly comparable with later results.  Source:  June Agricultural Survey

Government Departments: Combined Heat and Power

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much combined heat and power (CHP) has been installed on the Government estate since 1997; and whether the Government expects to meet its CHP target by 2010.

Ian Pearson: Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) reports, which monitor how the Government manage their land and buildings, set out that during the period 2001-02 (the date of the first report), three Departments sourced good quality CHP, while during the last reporting period (2005-06) seven Departments sourced good quality CHP. In this period DEFRA sourced 12 per cent. of their electricity from CHP and the DTI sourced 14.3 per cent.
	The DTI's digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics (DUKES) sets out that in 2005, 14 CHP schemes had been installed in buildings on the Government estate.
	All Departments are working towards the sustainable operations targets launched by the Prime Minister in June of last year. Government Departments are also mandated within the new targets to source at least 15 per cent. of electricity from Good Quality Combined Heat and Power by 2010 (with allowances for Departments that already purchase 100 per cent. renewable energy).

Government Departments: Combined Heat and Power

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations he has received on his commitment that 15 per cent. of electricity used in the Government estate will be from combined heat and power by 2010.

Ian Pearson: No representations have been made to me recently on the subject of the Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate target to source at least 15 per cent. of electricity from Good Quality Combined heat and Power by 2010 (with allowances for Departments that already purchase 100 per cent. renewable energy).

Rights of Way: East Anglia

Anthony D Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many Rights of Way have been established since the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000; how many were in East Anglia; and how much land has been affected in  (a) England and  (b) East Anglia.

Barry Gardiner: Local highway authorities are responsible for the management of rights of way and hold the relevant information on them. DEFRA does not hold the information requested which could be gathered only at a disproportionate cost.

Rural Areas: Environment Protection

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many agreements have been made under the  (a) Countryside Stewardship,  (b) Entry Level and  (c) Environmentally Sensitive Areas schemes, broken down by year of expiry.

Barry Gardiner: The following table shows numbers of agreements currently recorded broken down by the year of expiry expected at the time the agreement was entered into under the three agri-environment schemes in question.
	
		
			  Agreements by year of expected expiry under each scheme 
			  Number 
			   CSS  ESA  ELS 
			 1993 4 0 0 
			 1994 5 0 0 
			 1995 14 0 0 
			 1996 10 0 0 
			 1997 21 0 0 
			 1998 70 0 0 
			 1999 122 0 0 
			 2000 164 0 0 
			 2001 990 0 0 
			 2002 1,395 2,253 0 
			 2003 1,192 2,822 0 
			 2004 991 2,315 0 
			 2005 573 1,691 0 
			 2006 1,083 991 0 
			 2007 1,120 889 0 
			 2008 1,292 802 0 
			 2009 1,196 579 0 
			 2010 2,210 483 11,871 
			 2011 2,506 594 12,801 
			 2012 2,885 2,383 2,820 
			 2013 2,772 2,412 0 
			 2014 1,657 1,639 0 
			 2015 0 2 0 
			  Notes: 1. A small number of agreements do not run for the full duration as they are terminated early. 2. The full duration is 10 years for Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS) and Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA) and five years for the Entry Level Stewardship Scheme (ELS). 3. As the ELS scheme is open to new applications, the figures for ELS are a snapshot showing current live agreements, and accordingly this figure will be subject to future variation.

Seasonal Agricultural Workers' Scheme

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations he has made to the Home Department on the future of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers' Scheme.

Barry Gardiner: My Department has regular discussions with the Home Office on a range of issues. The Government are aware of the importance of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers' Scheme (SAWS) to farmers and growers. The scheme plays an important role in helping the industry to meet its demand for seasonal and casual workers, particularly during periods of peak activity. The views of DEFRA Ministers are fully represented in decisions taken by the Government about the future of SAWS.

Seeds: Imports

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many lots of seeds for  (a) maize and sweetcorn,  (b) winter oilseed rape,  (c) spring oilseed rape,  (d) sugar beet,  (e) fodder beet,  (f) beetroot and  (g) winter brassicas were imported into the UK in (i) 2005 and (ii) 2006; and what the (A) weight and (B) country of origin of the seeds was in each year.

Barry Gardiner: The following table gives the volume of seeds imported to the UK by country of despatch in 2005 and 2006 for the seed types recorded in the official overseas trade statistics. Note, some of the seed types requested are not separately available.
	The statistics are provided by country of despatch rather than country of origin. Details of country of origin are not available for the vast majority of imported seeds.
	The data are subject to a degree of statistical error. The overall level of errors is low, but these errors have a much greater proportional effect on countries with small values or volumes of trade. Therefore, care is needed when interpreting the data.
	
		
			  Tonnes 
			  Description/country  2005  2006 
			  Maize seed for sowing excl. sweetcorn   
			 Irish Republic 13,054 4,345 
			 France 5,813 3,162 
			 Netherlands 1,817 1,784 
			 Germany 731 1,660 
			 Italy — 306 
			 Austria 72 39 
			 Pakistan 8 14 
			 Spain 12 7 
			 Belgium — 16 
			 USA 3 2 
			 Dubai — 3 
			 Colombia — 3 
			 Australia — 2 
			 Sweden 1 — 
			 New Zealand — 0 
			 Portugal 0 0 
			 Denmark 0 — 
			
			  Low erucic acid rape or colza seeds for sowing   
			 France 196 471 
			 Germany 350 40 
			 Denmark 0 15 
			 Netherlands 4 4 
			 Sweden 6 — 
			 Irish Republic 1 1 
			 Austria 0 — 
			 New Zealand 0 — 
			
			  Other rape seed o/t low erucic acid rape   
			 France 3,453 18,172 
			 Irish Republic 3,039 3,604 
			 Belgium 22 3,423 
			 Netherlands 0 2,104 
			 Germany 4 109 
			 Egypt 61 — 
			 New Zealand 2 — 
			
			  Sugar beet seed of a kind used for sowing   
			 Italy 457 — 
			 Germany 27 86 
			 Belgium 9 91 
			 France 65 31 
			 Poland 2 57 
			 Irish Republic 6 18 
			 Denmark — 5 
			 Netherlands 3 — 
			 Sweden 0 — 
			
			  Salad beet seed or fodder beet root seed   
			 Netherlands 24 22 
			 USA 34 0 
			 Australia 3 3 
			 Italy — 0 
			 Germany — 0 
			
			  Beet seed other than sugar beet seed   
			 Germany 71 32 
			 France 3 4 
			 Denmark — 1 
			 Netherlands 0 0 
			 Italy 0 0 
			 Portugal 0 — 
			 Belgium — 0 
			
			  Other vegetable seeds of a kind used for sowing   
			 Netherlands 808 3,961 
			 Germany 270 221 
			 France 66 301 
			 USA 103 108 
			 Austria 67 67 
			 Italy 61 51 
			 India 39 39 
			 Canada 46 4 
			 New Zealand 4 44 
			 Chile 30 0 
			 Egypt 19 12 
			 Czech Republic — 24 
			 Denmark 8 8 
			 Irish Republic 8 7 
			 Japan 9 5 
			 Spain 6 5 
			 Australia 9 3 
			 Lebanon 10 — 
			 Israel 4 4 
			 Portugal 6 — 
			 Brazil 4 — 
			 China 1 3 
			 Sweden 1 2 
			 Taiwan 1 1 
			 South Africa 0 2 
			 Singapore 2 — 
			 Belgium 2 0 
			 South Korea 0 1 
			 Ghana — 1 
			 Thailand 1 0 
			 Hong Kong — 1 
			 Lithuania — 0 
			 Ukraine 0 — 
			 Switzerland 0 0 
			 Jordan 0 0 
			 Greece 0 — 
			 Argentina 0 — 
			 Poland 0 0 
			 Hungary 0 0 
			 Uganda — 0 
			 Cyprus 0 — 
			 0 = quantity less than half the unit shown '—' = nil values  Note:  2006 data are subject to amendments  Source: HM Revenue and Customs Data prepared by Trade statistics, Agricultural Statistics and Analysis Division, DEFRA

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

EC Grants and Loans: North East Region

Peter Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which Objective 2 schemes in the North East were held to be deficient in the management of expenditure, resulting in the suspension by the European Commission of all European Regional Development Fund payments to the UK.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 2 May 2007
	The European Commission is holding back the reimbursement of some expenditure by the Government on European Regional Development Fund 2000-06 programmes in some regions in England, including the North East, not across the whole of the UK. The European Commission has required that more on site checks of projects funded from the European Regional Development Fund are carried out by the Government Office for the North East to ensure that projects are complying with particular European Commission requirements. The European Commission has not referred to specific projects in the North East programme in this regard. The Government Office for the North East has put in place a robust action plan to deal with the issues and has achieved targets for on site checks set for the end of March. Discussions are continuing with the Commission with a view to getting expenditure reimbursed as soon as possible.

EC Grants and Loans: Government Office for London

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she is taking  (a) to investigate and  (b) to remedy the causes of the suspension of European Regional Development funding to the Government office for London; what those causes are; and if she will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: The European Commission is holding back the reimbursement of some expenditure by the Government on European Regional Development Fund 2000-06 programmes in some regions in England, including London, until additional on site checks have been completed to ensure that projects comply with particular European Commission criteria. The Government office for London put in place a robust plan to deal with the issues as soon as they were raised and action has been taken to deal with them. Discussions are continuing with the Commission with a view to getting expenditure reimbursed as soon as possible.

Homelessness: Hartlepool

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homeless people there were in  (a) Hartlepool constituency and  (b) Tees Valley sub-region in each of the last 10 years.

Yvette Cooper: Information about local authorities' actions under homelessness legislation is collected quarterly at local authority level, in respect of households rather than people. There are five local authorities in the Tees Valley sub-region: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees. The constituency of Hartlepool comprises the local authority of Hartlepool.
	Information reported each quarter by local authorities about their activities under homelessness legislation includes the number of households accepted by local authorities as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and therefore owed a main homelessness duty.
	The duty owed to an accepted household is to secure suitable accommodation. If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority may secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes available. The number of households in temporary accommodation arranged by the councils under homelessness legislation, as at the end of each quarter, is reported by local authorities, and includes both those households who have been accepted as owed the main homelessness duty, and those for which inquiries are pending.
	These are data published in our quarterly statistical release on Statutory Homelessness, which includes a Supplementary Table showing the breakdown of key data, including acceptances and temporary accommodation, by each local authority. This is published on our website and placed in the Library each quarter.
	Since 1998, information has also been collected on the number of people who sleep rough—that is, those who are literally roofless on a single night—and these are also published on our website, by local authority.
	Summary tables showing the total number of households (a) accepted under homelessness provisions and (b) in temporary accommodation, from 1997-98 to 2005-06, and (c) rough sleeper estimates from 1998 onwards, for each local authority (including those within the Tees Valley sub-region), were placed in the Library in response to the answer given on 23 October 2006,  Official Report, columns 1663-64W, to my hon. Friend the Member for the Vale of Clwyd (Chris Ruane).

Housing: Construction

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 26 March 2007, O fficial Report, columns 1329-30W, on housing: construction, what estimate she has made of the number and percentage of the houses built in each category in 2005-06 that were built  (a) for rental purposes and  (b) as social housing.

Yvette Cooper: Information on the total new build dwellings for rental purposes is not available centrally.
	The following numbers of social dwellings for rent were provided in England, Hampshire and each district in Hampshire since 2003-04:
	
		
			  Social for rent housing provision in England, Hampshire and districts 
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			  England  22,661  21,017  23,349 
			 
			  Hampshire  1,070  1,051  975 
			 Basingstoke and Deane 235 138 145 
			 East Hampshire 158 74 35 
			 Eastleigh 96 132 47 
			 Fareham 18 28 8 
			 Gosport 31 47 64 
			 Hart 43 58 52 
			 Havant 74 27 78 
			 New Forest 100 55 114 
			 Portsmouth UA 25 82 119 
			 Rushmoor 134 64 90 
			 Southampton UA 92 162 114 
			 Test Valley 13 80 63 
			 Winchester 51 104 46 
			  Notes: 1. LA figures are as reported. Social housing provision includes new build and acquisitions.  Source: Housing Corporation, statistical returns from local authorities. 
		
	
	Social for rent supply includes new build and acquisitions. The figures only make up part of the affordable housing supply with other dwellings being provided through low cost home ownership schemes. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on the 5 March 2007,  Official Report, column 1800W, for total affordable homes provided in Hampshire.

Housing: Energy

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she is taking to use building regulation standards to promote  (a) energy efficiency,  (b) modern heating systems including solar thermal and  (c) microgeneration.

Angela Smith: Part L of the Building Regulations is concerned with the conservation of fuel and power. The provisions were amended in April 2006 to raise energy efficiency standards and change the method of showing compliance. Without prescribing solutions, this new approach and associated calculation tools, take into account the low carbon benefits of solar thermal and other microgeneration systems, thus encouraging their use. Guidance was published alongside the Part L changes to highlight the contribution that these technologies can make. These standards are kept under review and the Government have signalled the next comprehensive amendment will come into effect around 2010.

Housing: Hartlepool

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to increase the number of new  (a) affordable and  (b) social houses available in Hartlepool constituency in the next five years.

Yvette Cooper: The Housing Corporation programme for 2006-08 currently includes an allocation of over £3.7 million which should provide 65 new rented units in the borough. In addition a recent allocation has been made to fund 20 new social home buy units. There will be the opportunity for more homes to be provided by way of the next bidding round which covers the period 2008 onwards.
	Through the planning system, the Secretary of State encourages planning authorities to assess need and make provision for that need through Local Development Frameworks.

Housing: Planning Permission

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for what policy reason Planning Policy Statement 3 prevents local authorities from using windfall sites to meet their housebuilding targets.

Yvette Cooper: Planning Policy Statement 3: "Housing" (PPS3) does not stop local authorities taking advantage of windfall sites to boost the delivery of housing in their areas. But it does seek to ensure that, generally speaking, housing provision is properly planned, and that local authorities develop clear and informed strategies for the location of housing development, and for the infrastructure needed to service it. PPS3 asks local authorities, wherever they can, to identify specific sites in their plans where they consider homes should be built, including brownfield sites, and discourages an over-reliance on windfall sites (such as garden land) that may come forward randomly and speculatively.
	We recognise that in some circumstances it may make sense for local authorities, within a planned strategy, to include a windfall allowance in planning their land supply. Under PPS3 policy, it is open to them to do this, if they can clearly demonstrate why, in the particular circumstances of their local area, specific sites cannot be identified.
	Our objective is, however, that wherever possible, land supply and housing delivery benefit from a plan led approach.

Housing: South West Region

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the private sector housing renewal grant was for the south-west in 2006-07; what it is projected to be in 2007-08; and if she will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: The regional housing pot, which includes private sector renewal grant, provides investment for the provision of new affordable homes, bringing local authority stock up to the Decent Homes standard, improvements in private sector stock and provision of sites for Gypsies and Travellers. The balance between these priorities is determined on advice given by the regions.
	The south-west share of the regional housing pot rose from £154 million in 2006-07 to £190 million in 2007-08. Following advice from the region, we allocated £31 million in 2006-07 to local authorities to support improvement work in the private sector and will be allocating £28 million later this month for the same purpose in 2007-08.

Key Real Estate

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what payments her Department has made to Key Real Estate Ltd, trading as Key Homes in the last 12 months; and what the  (a) date,  (b) value and  (c) purpose was of each payment.

Yvette Cooper: The Department has made no payments to Key Real Estate Ltd, trading as Key Homes in the last 12 months.

Local Government Finance: Noise

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will assess the merits of ringfencing council funding for noise abatement services.

Phil Woolas: Policy responsibility for the provision and funding of local authority noise abatement services rests with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The Government provide funding for these services through Formula Grant (Revenue Support Grant and National Non-Domestic Rates). This is unhypothecated and decisions on the use of that funding are for local authorities. The Government are committed to ensuring that, wherever possible, councils receive funding through unhypothecated provision. The Chancellor announced in the recent Budget report that the Government are committed to set out a clear target to reduce specific grants and ring fenced funding to local authorities.

Local Government: Training

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what initiatives she is considering for the use of local authority contracts to stimulate the skills training and employment of local unemployed men and women.

Phil Woolas: The Government's established policy is that all public procurement should be based on value for money, having due regard to propriety and regularity. Subject to their legal duties, including public procurement law, the duty of best value and equalities law, local authorities are responsible for taking their own procurement decisions.
	The use of contract clauses to promote social, economic or environmental factors, for example in relation to skills training and employment, may be permitted in circumstances where the clauses link into the subject matter of the contract.

Members: Correspondence

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for what reasons she has not responded to  (a) the letter from Mr. Fielder of Weston-Super-Mare on home information packs forwarded by the hon. Member for Weston-Super-Mare on 5 February and  (b) the letters of (i) 14 March and (ii) 29 March from the hon. Member.

Yvette Cooper: I have now replied to the hon. Member's correspondence.

Planning

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects the Planning White Paper to be published; and what provision will be made in the White Paper relating to  (a) increasing public participation and  (b) third party rights of appeal.

Yvette Cooper: The White Paper will be published later this spring. The Government of course recognise the importance of effective public participation in this area and the White Paper will propose arrangements for achieving this. The issue of third party rights of appeal was carefully considered when we developed proposals for radical reform of the planning system in 2001; the Government concluded then that such a proposal could add unacceptably to the costs and uncertainties of planning.

TRANSPORT

Pedestrian Crossings

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library a copy of the document setting out the criteria used to determine the location of zebra and pelican crossings in England; what the requirements are for the minimum distance from which such crossings must be visible to oncoming motorists; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: There are no national criteria for the placing of pedestrian crossings in England. It is for the local highway or traffic authority concerned to decide on suitable crossing types and locations. The Department's published guidance, Local Transport Note 1/95, The Assessment of Pedestrian Crossings, recommends a decision framework approach which includes making an assessment of the visibility distance of crossings. Local Transport Note 2/95, The Design of Pedestrian Crossings, provides guidance on visibility distances. I have arranged for copies of both publications to be placed in the Libraries of the House.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Palestinians: International Assistance

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how a terrorist is defined for the purposes of the Temporary International Mechanism.

Hilary Benn: The Temporary International Mechanism (TIM) does not make payments to individuals if they appear on the following internationally-recognised terrorist lists:
	Bank of England terrorist list;
	European Union terrorist list;
	United Nations sanctions list;
	Office of Foreign Assets Control (United States Treasury) terrorist list; and
	Hong Kong Monetary Authority terrorist list.
	The TIM has also set up a comprehensive accounting and audit system to track payments.

Palestinians: International Assistance

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many social welfare payments under the Temporary International Mechanism have been stopped by HSBC because of concerns of terrorism.

Hilary Benn: The purpose of terrorist checks under the Temporary International Mechanism (TIM) is to provide assurance that EU assistance is not being used to support terrorism. Between 27 August 2006, when payments under the TIM began, and 1 May 2007 one welfare payment has been withheld because the individual's name was on one of the internationally recognised terrorist lists.

Sudan: Internally Displaced Persons

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance he is  (a) providing and  (b) planning for policing in the internally displaced people's camps in Darfur.

Hilary Benn: Under the Darfur Peace Agreement, responsibility for monitoring security in camps for Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Darfur rests with AMIS. The UK is currently paying the staff costs of the African Union Mission in Sudan's (AMIS) civilian police and military staff, as well as helping AMIS with its running costs.
	The UK also has seconded 12 police officers to the EU Supporting Action to AMIS in Darfur to train and advise AMIS' civilian police force. These civilian police officers represent just under a half of the total EU contribution and cost the UK around £1 million a year.

TREASURY

Climate Change Levy

Gregory Barker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received on the use of clean coal technology and the administration of the climate change levy.

John Healey: The Government receives a range of representations on the climate change levy and considers these representations, alongside other policy advice within the normal PBR and Budget cycle.

Employment

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people are in  (a) full-time and  (b) part-time employment in each constituency; what the corresponding figures were in 1997; and what the percentage change in numbers has been in each constituency.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 3 May 2007:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people are in  (a) full-time and  (b) part-time employment in each constituency; what the corresponding figures were in 1997; and what the percentage change in numbers has been in each constituency. I am replying in her absence. (135561)
	The Office for National Statistics compiles employment statistics for local areas from the annual local area Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation definitions.
	The table, attached, shows the number of people in employment by full-time and part-time status for all constituencies, in Great Britain, for the 12 month period ending in February 1997 from the annual local area LFS and for the 12 months ending in September 2006 from the APS. Data for the new Scottish constituencies, introduced in May 2005, are not available for the earlier period. The table also shows the percentage change between the periods, although most of these percentage changes are not considered statistically significant.
	As these estimates are for a subset of the population in small geographical areas, they are based on small sample sizes, and are therefore subject to large margins of uncertainty. In this case, most of the sample sizes are not sufficient to give an accurate estimate of even the direction of the change over the period.
	Since the information is so extensive, a copy of the table has been placed in the House of Commons Library.

Loans: Students

Alan Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how much the Government received for the sale of student loans in  (a) 1998 and  (b) 1999; and what the face value was of each of these loans at the time of sale;
	(2)  how much interest was paid to banks by the Government in support of the student loans scheme in each year since its inception.

Bill Rammell: I have been asked to reply.
	In 1998 the Government received £1 billion for the sale of student loans with a face value of £1.02 billion. In 1999 the Government received £1 billion for the sale of student loans with a face value of £1.03 billion. These are UK figures.
	The following table shows the amount of interest subsidy paid to the debt sale owners in each year since 1998.
	
		
			  Financial year  Subsidy (£000) 
			 1998-99 54,000 
			 1999-2000 90,890 
			 2000-01 110,476 
			 2001-02 88,986 
			 2002-03 88,963 
			 2003-04 42,751 
			 2004-05 48,091 
			 2005-06 36,895 
			  Note: Figures are for England and Wales

Revenue and Customs: Manpower

Anthony D Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many HM Revenue and Customs offices are currently unstaffed; and what the estimated cost to the public purse is of such offices.

Stephen Timms: HM Revenue and Customs currently holds 12 unstaffed offices which are still part of the estate due to various lease and legal title issues and longstanding commitments with other Government Departments.
	The estimated annual cost of these offices is £1,435,512. HMRC is working to cease its liability for these offices as soon as is practical.

Skills in the UK Independent Review

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost was of employing Opinion Leader Research to organise the Skills Challenge: A Public Debate held on 8th February 2007 to discuss the Leitch Review.

Phil Hope: I have been asked to reply.
	On behalf of the DfES, the Central Office of Information (COI) managed a competitive tendering process to organise and deliver "The Skills Challenge: A Public Debate" to be held on 8 February 2007. The tender was won by Opinion Leader Research, with a contract value of £153,484.38.

Stamp Duty: Suffolk

David Ruffley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many properties sold in  (a) Bury St. Edmunds constituency and  (b) the Suffolk county council area in each of the last three years attracted stamp duty at (i) zero per cent., (ii) 1 per cent., (iii) 3 per cent. and (iv) 4 per cent.

Edward Balls: Estimates of the number of property transactions for 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 are given in the following table for Bury St. Edmunds parliamentary constituency and Suffolk county, grouped by stamp duty band.
	
		
			   Property transactions attracting 0 per cent. rate( 1)  Property transactions attracting 1 per cent. rate( 2)  Property transactions attracting 3 per cent. rate( 3)  Property transactions attracting 4 per cent. rate( 4)  Total 
			  Bury St. Edmunds 
			 2004-05 430 2,200 420 50 3,140 
			 2005-06 1,300 2,200 510 90 4,100 
			 2006-07 1 ,500 2,800 690 120 5,100 
			  Suffolk 
			 2004-05 3,500 14,000 2,100 500 20,100 
			 2005-06 8,600 10,500 2,400 420 21,900 
			 2006-07 8,800 12,100 3,100 730 24,800 
			 (1) Residential threshold £60,000 in 2004-05, £120,000 in 2005-06 and £125,000 in 2006-07. Non-residential threshold £150,000 in all years. (2) £60,001 to £250,000 range for residential transactions in 2004-05, £120,001 to £250,000 for residential transactions in 2005-06, £125,001 to £250,000 in 2006-07, £150,001 to £250,000 for non-residential transactions in all years. (3) £250,001 to £500,000. (4) £500,001 or more. 
		
	
	The number of transactions bearing stamp duty will be lower than the number shown in the non-zero bands due to the use of various reliefs, e.g. disadvantaged area relief, group relief, registered social landlord relief etc. There are also some lease transactions which fall in the 0 per cent. band on account of consideration, but which bear stamp duty on the lease rental.

Tax Credits: Overpayments

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many legal proceedings were instigated for recovery of tax credit overpayments in each  (a) year and  (b) quarter since April 2003; what the average level is of overpayment outstanding for which legal action has been instigated; what the total value is of overpayments for which legal action has been instigated; what the average cost has been of pursuing a case through the courts; and how much has been recovered through court action.

Stephen Timms: In 2006-07 some 38,000 legal proceedings were commenced at an average value of £2,260 and an average cost to HMRC of £135 to instigate proceedings. The other information is not available.

Taxation: Agriculture

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reasons he plans to withdraw writing down allowances on industrial and agricultural buildings between 2008-09 and 2010-11; what assessment he has made of the likely impact of this change on the farming industry; how many farm businesses he estimates will be affected; and to what value.

John Healey: The Government's decision to withdraw the industrial and agricultural buildings allowances were based on an assessment of a number of issues, common across industry sectors. The Government have not sought to target the farming industry or any other industry with this change.
	Industrial buildings allowances (IBAs) and agricultural buildings allowances (ABAs) were introduced in 1945 to encourage post-war reconstruction. They are now a poorly focused subsidy, selectively available on a disparate range of assets, including some that typically appreciate in value. IBAs and ABAs have long been recognised as a significant distortion in commercial property investment. These issues are compounded by the compliance burden imposed by their complicated rules.
	The withdrawal of IBAs and ABAs is not an isolated measure. The Budget also announced cuts in both the basic rate of income tax and the main rate of corporation tax and introduced a new annual investment allowance (AIA) of £50,000 for business investment from 2008. Taken as a whole, these reforms to the business and personal tax systems are designed to deliver increases in investment and growth overall.

Taxation: Public Transport

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of the impact on tax revenue of increased use of public transport; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: We monitor tax receipts on an ongoing basis and take into account all the relevant economic, social and environmental factors in future decisions.

Welfare Tax Credits

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what proportion of families with children are  (a) eligible for and  (b) claimants of tax credits;
	(2)  what proportion of families without children are  (a) eligible for and  (b) claimants of tax credits.

Stephen Timms: Estimates of take-up rates for child and working tax credits in 2003-04 and 2004-05, including information on families with children and families without children, are available on the HMRC website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-take-up.htm

Written Questions

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will be able to provide substantive replies to question  (a) 133687,  (b) 133686 and  (c) 133685, on non-domicile tax status.

Edward Balls: I did so on 30 April 2007,  Official Report, column 1382W.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Sentencing: Appeals

Michael Penning: To ask the Solicitor-General how many unduly lenient sentences for crimes committed by serving police officers were referred to the Court of Appeal in  (a) England,  (b) Hertfordshire and  (c) Dacorum in each of the last five years; and how many appeals were upheld in each year.

Mike O'Brien: I regret that information on sentences referred by the Law Officers to the Court of Appeal as unduly lenient is not recorded by reference to whether or not the offender was a serving police officer. This information can be obtained only at a disproportionate cost

SCOTLAND

Departments: Disciplinary Proceedings

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many grievance procedures have been initiated in his Department in the last 12 months.

David Cairns: None.

Departments: Intimidation

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many complaints of bullying have been investigated in his Department in the last 12 months; and how many complaints have been upheld.

David Cairns: In the period April 2006 to March 2007, there were no complaints of bullying in the Scotland Office.

Departments: Sexual Harassment

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many complaints of sexual harassment have been investigated in his Department in the last 12 months; and how many complaints have been upheld.

David Cairns: The Scotland Office has received no complaints of sexual harassment in the last 12 months.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Climate Change

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the role of scientific innovation in tackling climate change.

Alistair Darling: I have regular discussions with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to discuss a wide range of issues.

Corporate Social Responsibility Academy

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Corporate Social Responsibility Academy; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: The CSR Academy played a significant role in raising the profile of CSR within UK companies. This success will now be built on as the work of the academy will continue through Business in the Community.

Trade Union Recognition

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to review the 21-employee threshold for trade union recognition by employers; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The threshold was fully examined as part of the 2003 Review of the Employment Relations Act 1999. We continue to monitor the operation of the statutory recognition procedure, but we have no plans to undertake a further review of the threshold.

Africa: Exports

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what support the Government provided to British firms seeking to establish export agreements with African countries in the latest period for which figures are available.

Ian McCartney: pursuant to the reply, 1 May 2007, Official Report, c. 1560W
	 Incorrect figures were provided. They should read £6,194,177,000 and £5,777,083,000.

Bankruptcy

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to place in the Library a copy of the Office of Fair Trading Report on the mis-selling of individual voluntary arrangements.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of Fair Trading do not propose a specific report on the mis-selling of individual voluntary arrangements, however, its work in this area will be reported in its annual report, which will be laid before Parliament on 11 June 2007.

Business: Regulation

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress his Department has made towards reducing the burden of regulation on British businesses.

Margaret Hodge: The Department's progress on reducing regulation is set out in our Simplification Plan which was published on 11 December last year. We will publish another report on the progress we have made and the further plans we have later this year.

Business: Regulation

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress his Department has made towards reducing the burden of regulation on British businesses.

Margaret Hodge: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I have given to the hon. Member for Mid-Bedfordshire (Mrs. Dorries) today.

Carbon Sequestration

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received on the use of clean electricity generated using carbon capture and storage technology.

Malcolm Wicks: The Secretary of State has received many representations on CO2 capture and storage (CCS).
	The Budget 2007 announced that a competition will take place to demonstrate CCS on a full scale power plant in the UK. Further details will be announced in May 2007 and the outcome of the competition will be announced in 2008.
	The Government are aware of eight to 10 potential full-scale CCS power plant demonstrations in the UK. My officials and the Department's technical advisers have discussed plans with all the project developers on a number of occasions.

Energy Policy Progress Review

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he has made an estimate of the effect on costs to domestic customers and businesses arising from the time taken to publish the Government's Energy White Paper.

Alistair Darling: Consumers and businesses will benefit from the measures we will set out in the Energy White Paper, because they will help us deliver cleaner, more secure energy supplies.

Energy: Complaints

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to address the level of consumer complaints against energy companies.

Malcolm Wicks: Between 2002-03 and 2005-06, complaints to Energywatch declined substantially each year. We expect the final figures for 2006-07 to show an increase over 2005-06, principally because of complaints about British Gas. British Gas is working closely with Energywatch to address this. The Government have no plans to take any steps at this time. The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem), which is responsible for regulating gas and electricity supply, has extensive powers to act against suppliers that breach licence conditions.

Fuel Poverty

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many households in each parliamentary constituency were in fuel poverty in each year since 2001.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 27 April 2007
	Fuel poverty statistics are currently only available at Government office region level. Latest available figures are sourced from the 2004 English House Condition Survey. Figures for fuel poverty in each of the Government office regions in 2001, 2003 and 2004 are given as follows. Figures for other years are not available.
	
		
			   2001  2003  2004 
			 North East 127,000 95,000 103,000 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 232,000 180,000 163,000 
			 North West 313,000 178,000 190,000 
			 East Midlands 156,000 112,000 101,000 
			 West Midlands 213,000 146,000 153,000 
			 South West 212,000 139,000 134,000 
			 East of England 137,000 115,000 141,000 
			 South East 205,000 149,000 133,000 
			 London 151,000 108,000 119,000 
		
	
	Small variations between years may be due to sampling variability, rather than underlying trends in the data.
	A fuel poverty indicator giving estimates of the level of fuel poverty in small areas of England is due to be launched on 25 May 2007. These will be published at lower super output area, a geography that splits England into 32,482 areas.

Industrial Diseases: Compensation

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what average damages have been recovered by the 20 law firms with the greatest volume of claims for  (a) vibration white finger and  (b) chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

Malcolm Wicks: The averages damages recovered by the 20 claimants' representatives with the greatest volume of claims for vibration white finger (VWF), and for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are shown on the following tables:
	
		
			  VWF 
			  Claimants' representatives  Claims registered  Average damages paid on claims settled by payment (£) 
			 Thompsons Solicitors 21,061 13,595 
			 Browell Smith and Co. 16,466 9,622 
			 Beresfords Solicitors 11,625 9,236 
			 Union of Democratic Mineworkers 11,529 9,846 
			 Raleys Solicitors 11,279 10,161 
			 Hugh James 10,637 9,921 
			 Graysons Solicitors 8,700 12,690 
			 Moss Solicitors 7,374 9,287 
			 Watson Burton LLP 5,934 13,519 
			 Towells Solicitors 5,356 11,090 
			 Ashton Morton Slack LLP 5,301 8,788 
			 Kidd and Spoor Harper Solicitors 3,668 11,733 
			 Atteys 3,096 12,736 
			 O. H. Parsons and Partners Solicitors 2,701 9,937 
			 Irwin Mitchell Solicitors 2,363 12,446 
			 Shaw and Co. Solicitors 2,256 14,630 
			 Saffmans Solicitors 2,234 10,478 
			 Kingslegal 1,885 7,535 
			 Latham and Co. Solicitors 1,838 12,726 
			 Corries Solicitors 1,677 16,700 
		
	
	
		
			  COPD 
			  Claimants' representatives  Claims registered  Average damages paid on claims settled by paymen t (£) 
			 Beresfords Solicitors 80,860 2,504 
			 Thompsons Solicitors 57,949 9,581 
			 Hugh James 56,764 8,124 
			 Raleys Solicitors 48,803 6,805 
			 Browell Smith and Co. 32,965 7,201 
			 Avalon Solicitors 32,419 2,063 
			 Mark Gilbert Morse 25,738 7,546 
			 Union of Democratic Mineworkers 16,630 3,210 
			 Barber and Co. 14,090 2,697 
			 Watson Burton LLP 14,077 4,349 
			 Graysons Solicitors 12,964 4,637 
			 Ashton Morton Slack LLP 10,201 3,094 
			 Randell Lloyd Jenkins and Martin 9,846 5,879 
			 Delta Legal 9,429 2,206 
			 The Legal Warehouse 8,098 3,189 
			 Moss Solicitors 7,939 4,175 
			 Ingrams Solicitors 7,933 3,544 
			 Birchall Blackburn 7,663 2,636 
			 Corries Solicitors 7,459 3,241 
			 German Hamilton Solicitors 6,245 3,093 
		
	
	In each of the tables, figures of Claims Registered may be lower than in the previous answers due to claimants having changed representatives.

Industrial Diseases: Compensation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many coal health claimants are awaiting a medical examination in  (a) Bassetlaw and  (b) the UK.

Malcolm Wicks: The number of coal health claimants that are currently awaiting a medical examination for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Bassetlaw is 408 and in the UK is 65,221. For vibration white finger the figures for Bassetlaw is 35 and the UK is 1,639.

Iran: Export Credit Guarantees

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what advice is being given by his Department to the Export Credit Guarantees Department on loan guarantees for UK exports to Iran.

Ian McCartney: ECGD has advised Ministers on export credit cover policy towards Iran. For some time, ECGD has restricted the availability of cover. At present, applications for cover are not being processed pending clarification of the applicability of UN Security Council resolution 1747 to the provision of export credits. In any event, there has been a sharp decline in the demand for ECGD cover.

Iran: Export Credit Guarantees

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent changes have been made to Government policy on loan guarantees for UK exports to Iran; and if he will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: ECGD has pursued a cautious policy towards Iran for some time. Cover capacity has been limited in order to contain exposure. In the light of recent developments with Iran, ECGD is required to consult Ministers before approving any applications for export credit support.
	Since the adoption of UN Security Council resolution 1747 in March, ECGD is not processing applications for cover pending clarification on its applicability to the provision of export credits to Iran. In any event, there has been a sharp decline in demand for ECGD cover.

Iran: Export Credit Guarantees

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what his role is in decisions on whether to approve export credit guarantees to companies wishing to trade with Iran; and if he will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: In the light of recent developments with Iran, ECGD is required to consult Ministers before approving any applications for export credit cover. No applications for cover are currently being processed pending clarification on the applicability of UN Security Council resolution 1747 to the provision of export credits. In any event, there has been a sharp decline in demand for cover for Iran.

Migrant Workers: Minimum Wage

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to ensure that migrant workers  (a) receive the minimum wage and  (b) are protected from employer coercion in relation to their terms of employment.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs minimum wage compliance teams are devoted to making sure all workers receive their entitlement to be paid at least the national minimum wage. Every year the DTI publicises details about the minimum wage and the number to ring (0845 6000 678) if workers need more information or believe they are being underpaid. The helpline operators have access to language line interpreters so that callers can be phoned back allowing the caller to speak in their own language.
	The Government will not tolerate the mistreatment of migrant workers. Legal migrant workers have the same employment rights and recourses as their UK equivalents. To ensure migrant workers are aware of their rights we have produced 'Know before you go' leaflets in partnership with the Polish, Lithuanian and Portuguese governments. The Home Office is also distributing a one page DTI note on "basic employment rights and where to go for further advice". This is going to all workers registering under the worker registration scheme and is available in a range of languages.

Nuclear Power

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 19 March 2007,  Official Report, column 635W, on nuclear power, what additional areas the new consultation on nuclear energy will cover.

Malcolm Wicks: Our new consultation on nuclear energy will endeavour to bring together the evidence and analysis Government have collected and published since the Energy Review began. It will help people reach informed views and provide the Government with valuable contributions, which will help inform the Government's decision in the autumn.

Photovoltaics Demonstration Programme

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much money was  (a) allocated for grants and  (b) disbursed by the photovoltaics demonstration programme in each month since the scheme began.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 16 April 2007
	The information requested is as follows.
	
		
			  Solar PV major demonstration programme—Stream 1 
			  £ 
			  Month  Allocated  Disbursed 
			 May 2002 85,561.09 — 
			 June 2002 52,438.31 — 
			 July 2002 84,378.17 30,048.67 
			 August 2002 117,793.37 — 
			 September 2002 75,689.86 47,247.97 
			 October 2002 76,759.51 30,409.03 
			 November 2002 87,266.78 58,684.52 
			 December 2002 66,086.17 57,053.46 
			 January 2003 59,817.31 104,080.86 
			 February 2003 143,515.52 44,170.58 
			 March 2003 70,054.31 138,719.63 
			 April 2003 243,640.28 71,205.77 
			 May 2003 365,348.80 58,334.98 
			 June 2003 191,564.75 102,304.25 
			 July 2003 140,828.62 106,767.08 
			 August 2003 65,930.96 55,097.04 
			 September 2003 168,736.85 74,479.90 
			 October 2003 76,087.92 165,466.36 
			 November 2003 147,277.41 119,177.34 
			 December 2003 58,479.80 94,257.62 
			 January 2004 107,291.50 114,778.26 
			 February 2004 171,295.44 101,200.14 
			 March 2004 200,030.49 168,096.89 
			 April 2004 233,205.54 64,246.96 
			 May 2004 145,564.98 117,825.23 
			 June 2004 157,736.86 105,666.35 
			 July 2004 315,894.47 224,614.93 
			 August 2004 235,219.75 159,648.82 
			 September 2004 173,608.65 165,152.95 
			 October 2004 187,956.96 188,901.73 
			 November 2004 377,204.48 147,555.83 
			 December 2004 175,170.80 197,485.24 
			 January 2005 268,463.59 207,031.24 
			 February 2005 424,280.76 226,405.26 
			 March 2005 216,545.58 305,999.43 
			 April 2005 308,615.73 150,887.68 
			 May 2005 418,169.93 141,726.54 
			 June 2005 442,438.55 231,318.86 
			 July 2005 615,589.77 304,797.58 
			 August 2005 191,426.43 347,963.13 
			 September 2005 245,421.79 209,130.25 
			 October 2005 145,837.02 266,885.05 
			 November 2005 475,146.13 385,535.46 
			 December 2005 297,141.81 341,359.53 
			 January 2006 218,981.48 279,299.33 
			 February 2006 326,285.00 290,560.81 
			 March 2006 386,140.76 442,841.36 
			 April 2006 310,900.00 126,589.89 
			 May 2006 835,030.28 367,651.18 
			 June 2006 554,511.98 387,622.46 
			 July 2006 146,937.83 378,313.93 
			 August 2006 73,651.24 326,151.90 
			 September 2006 — 340,682.83 
			 October 2006 — 380,580.38 
			 November 2006 — 459,038.18 
			 December 2006 — 357,755.50 
			 January 2007 — 417,741.29 
			 February 2007 — 297,782.06 
			 March 2007 — 392,146.12 
		
	
	
		
			  Solar PV major demonstration programme—Stream 2 
			  £ 
			  Month  Allocated  Disbursed 
			 July 2002 1,154,030.59 — 
			 August 2002 — — 
			 September 2002 — — 
			 October 2002 — — 
			 November 2002 1,040,293.72 — 
			 December 2002 — — 
			 January 2003 — — 
			 February 2003 — — 
			 March 2003 1,340,262.52 — 
			 April 2003 — — 
			 May 2003 — — 
			 June 2003 1,524,080.13 16,184.83 
			 July 2003 — — 
			 August 2003 — 112,158.80 
			 September 2003 1,647,697.01 — 
			 October 2003 — 72,486.05 
			 November 2003 — — 
			 December 2003 868,202.49 57,437.61 
			 January 2004 — 228,297.20 
			 February 2004 — 31,065.45 
			 March 2004 1,049,318.60 576,082.95 
			 April 2004 — — 
			 May 2004 — 89,022.00 
			 June 2004 1,499,136.60 154,603.45 
			 July 2004 — 611,032.85 
			 August 2004 — 485,437.18 
			 September 2004 — 282,884.42 
			 October 2004 1,031,184.12 405,726.08 
			 November 2004 — 470,839.46 
			 December 2004 450,357.21 219,815.33 
			 January 2005 — 304,409.88 
			 February 2005 — 155,001.35 
			 March 2005 — 710,599.81 
			 April 2005 — 216,426.00 
			 May 2005 968,480.15 369,907.18 
			 June 2005 — 472,971.44 
			 July 2005 — 129,278.85 
			 August 2005 942,883.28 405,132.34 
			 September 2005 — 296,292.77 
			 October 2005  232,614.30 
			 November 2005 487,567.09 466,613.53 
			 December 2005 — 384,627.88 
			 January 2006 — 219,758.74 
			 February 2006 — 322,374.36 
			 March 2006 794,455.85 617,075.10 
			 April 2006 — 88,008.00 
			 May 2006 736,337.97 261,168.17 
			 June 2006 — 76,054.89 
			 July 2006 — 242,590.67 
			 August 2006 — 299,499.68 
			 September 2006 — 435,757.28 
			 October 2006 — 392,786.59 
			 November 2006 — 287,832.82 
			 December 2006 — 90,443.72 
			 January 2007 — 531,801.50 
			 February 2007 — 414,412.68 
			 March 2007 — 1,701,912.28

Post Offices: Closures

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many post offices closed in villages and towns with populations smaller than 10,000 inhabitants in 2006-07.

Jim Fitzpatrick: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd (POL). I understand from POL that the post office branches in settlements with populations smaller than 10,000 inhabitants are classified as rural branches. Also that for 2006-07 the net number of rural post office branch closures was 128.

Renewable Energy

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what account he expects the forthcoming Energy White Paper to take of the Government's binding commitments made at the European Union Summit on 9 March for renewable energy to supply 20 per cent. of overall EU energy consumption by 2020; and how he plans to meet these commitments.

Malcolm Wicks: The Energy White Paper will be published in May.

Sellafield: Accidents

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects the terms of reference for the Sellafield historic autopsy inquiry to be published.

Malcolm Wicks: The terms of reference for the inquiry were published on 26 April 2007,  Official Report, column 28WS.

Sellafield: Accidents

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the families of those affected by the Sellafield autopsy issue will be consulted on the terms of reference for the investigation to be led by Michael Redfern QC.

Malcolm Wicks: Although the families of those affected have not been consulted on the terms of reference for the inquiry, I know that Mr. Redfern is keen to talk to them at an early stage in the inquiry.

Sellafield: Accidents

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how long the Sellafield historic autopsy investigation is expected to continue; and whether an investigation team will be based at or in the communities around Sellafield.

Malcolm Wicks: I have asked Michael Redfern QC to report to me as soon as possible. I anticipate that some of the work of the inquiry team will take place in West Cumbria.

Solar Power

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what account is taken in the proposed accreditation for solar PV installers of  (a) the costs of entry into the marketplace for smaller companies and  (b) the compliance costs on those existing small companies in the market.

Malcolm Wicks: The microgeneration certification scheme is a voluntary scheme covering product and installation standards and a code of practice. The scheme is an important market mechanism aimed at building consumer confidence in microgeneration technologies. The cost of compliance to companies is set at a level to ensure delivery of a robust United Kingdom Accreditation Services accredited scheme that will provide consumer protection.
	The DTI is subsidising compliance costs for industry, including new and existing small companies, over the first year of the scheme. This measure should help to support companies wishing to join the scheme in the short term. In the longer term, industry should benefit from increased consumer confidence, which should encourage investment in microgeneration at the domestic level, growing the market.

Wind Power: Grants

Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether all applications which have been made for Stream 1 grants for wind turbines which meet the criteria of the scheme have been approved.

Malcolm Wicks: The Low Carbon Buildings Programme supports grant applications for a range of microgeneration technologies including wind turbines. To date, we have received 1,849 Stream 1 grant applications for wind turbine projects, of which 1,669 met the scheme criteria and were awarded grants.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan: Opium

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what her estimate is of the number of hectares of land in Afghanistan which were  (a) used to grow poppies and  (b) destroyed as part of the eradication scheme in (i) 2005 and (ii) 2006.

Kim Howells: The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime's 2005 Afghanistan Opium Survey reported that 109,103 hectares of land was used to cultivate opium poppy in 2005, of which 5,103 hectares was eradicated. Their 2006 Afghanistan Opium Survey reported that 180,300 hectares of land was used to cultivate opium poppy in 2006, of which 15,300 hectares was eradicated.

Committee of Permanent Representatives: Secondment

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British civil servants were seconded to work full-time for the Committee of Permanent Representatives in each year between 1997 and 2006.

Geoff Hoon: The Committee of Permanent Representatives is divided into two parts. The UK is represented in COREPER I by the UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the EU and in COREPER II by the UK Permanent Representative to the EU. No UK official, nor that of any other member state, is seconded to either part of COREPER.

Cuba: Political Prisoners

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations she has made on the judicial process in Cuba and the provision of legal representation for defendants.

Geoff Hoon: The UK will continue to seek opportunities to raise human right issues, including judicial processes, with the Cuban authorities, despite the limited contact granted to us by the Cuban Government. On 30 April my right hon. Friend the Minister for Trade expressed concern about political prisoners and other human rights issues during a meeting with the Cuban Deputy Minister for Foreign Trade, Antonio Carricarte. In addition, officials regularly voice UK concern with their Cuban counterparts over such issues.

Departments: Disciplinary Proceedings

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many grievance procedures have been initiated in her Department in the last 12 months.

Geoff Hoon: Since 1 April 2006, 27 formal individual grievances have been submitted in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
	Guidance on the procedures in place for lodging grievances is available to all staff. All formal individual grievances are investigated in line with the procedures.

Departments: Internet

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for which Government websites she is responsible; how many visitors each received in the latest period for which figures are available; and what the cost  (a) was of establishing and  (b) has been of maintaining each site.

Geoff Hoon: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has responsibility for 211 FCO websites, which cost £6 million to establish in 2001 and cost £650,000 to maintain in the year 2006-07. These websites include the main FCO Website, Ukvisas website, more than 180 embassy and high commission websites and the i-UK.com portal website. These fall under the following key domains with the associated number of visitors:
	
		
			  Domain  Visitors 
			 www.fco.gov.uk(1) 8,255,352 
			 www.britishembassy.gov.uk(1) 6,798,276 
			 www.britishhighcommission.gov.uk(1) 3,025,405 
			 www.ukvisas.gov.uk 5,326,484 
			 www.i-uk.com(1) 613,740 
			 www .gogapyear.com(2) 20,921 
			 (1) Figures only available between 1 July 2006 and 30 April 2007. Monthly average taken to calculate 12 month total. (2) Figures available between 1 September 2006 and 30 March 2007. Monthly average taken to calculate 12 month total. 
		
	
	These figures do not include 12 websites that have been run independently of the FCO web platform. We do not have figures for the number of visitors or cost of these sites. They are:
	www.britainusa.com
	www.britishembassy.ie
	www.britishembassy.se
	www.uknow.or.jp
	www.uk.cn
	www.britaus.net
	www.bhcvictoria.sc
	www.britain.or.ug
	www.britischebotschaft.de
	www.britemb.org.il
	www.ukun.org

Departments: Intimidation

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many complaints of bullying have been investigated in her Department in the last 12 months; and how many complaints have been upheld.

Geoff Hoon: The number of formal complaints of bullying investigated in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the last 12 months is very small. In line with guidance issued by the Cabinet Office, the information requested can therefore not be released on grounds of confidentiality. Guidance on the procedures in place for those who have a concern related to any form of unfair discrimination, including bullying, is available to all staff.

Departments: Sexual Harassment

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many complaints of sexual harassment have been investigated in her Department in the last 12 months; and how many complaints have been upheld.

Geoff Hoon: There have been no formal complaints of sexual harassment in the last 12 months in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Guidance on the procedures in place for those who have a concern over all forms of harassment is available to all staff.

EC Law

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many European Union Directives have been transposed into UK law in the last 12 months.

Geoff Hoon: Individual Government Departments are responsible for transposing EU Directives into UK law in their policy areas. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not transpose EU Directives. Transposition notes stating all the main elements of individual EU Directives that have been or will be transposed into UK law are available in the Library of the House.
	EU Directives may be directly applicable, implemented by administrative means, or introduced when domestic legislation is amended for other purposes. The European Communities Act 1972 (the ECA) allows the Government to implement EU Directives either by primary legislation or by secondary legislation.
	Standard Note SN/IA/2888, which is available in the Library of the House, gives information on the number of Statutory Instruments (S.I.) enacted under the ECA in each parliamentary session and the proportion of the total number of S.I.s this represents. Between 1998 and 2005 an average of 8.9 per cent. of S.I.s were laid in order to implement EU legislation.

EC Law

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many European Union Directives have been repealed from UK law in the last 12 months.

Geoff Hoon: House of Commons Standard Note SNIA-02888 states that 60 directives were repealed or expired in 2006. The Commission continue to make progress with their ambitious programme to simplify and reduce existing EU laws. In November 2006 they announced a further 43 simplification proposals and identified 10 pending proposals to be withdrawn. The UK continues to support the Commission's efforts. We welcome the agreement at the Spring European Council in March to cut administrative burdens by 25 per cent. by 2012; delivering on this commitment will help boost European competitiveness and help stimulate further the Lisbon jobs and growth agenda.
	A detailed progress report on better regulation is available in the Commission's 2006 general report available at:
	http://europa.eu/generalreport/en/welcome.htm

European Union: Communication

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the role is of the European Union working group of national communications experts; what she expects the  (a) format and  (b) agenda of the next meeting of the group to be; and if she will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: The role of the Council's Information Working Group is to examine the information policy and communication strategy of the EU, to assess ways to increase transparency and openness of the Institutions, to provide access to documents and to promote co-operation between institutions.
	The Information Working Group is composed of delegates of the 27 EU member states, representatives of the General Secretariat of the Council and representatives of the European Commission. Meeting agendas contain a list of topics and references to documents on which discussions will be held.
	The Working Group on Information meets every two weeks in principle. The next meeting is scheduled for 10 May. The agenda for this meeting has not yet been circulated.

European Union: Publicity

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the UK representation is on the Interinstitutional Group on Information; what the agenda is for its next meeting; and when it will next meet.

Geoff Hoon: The Minister for Europe of the country holding the EU presidency attends the Interinstitutional Group on Information. Officials from the incoming presidency attend as observers.
	As such, UK officials will attend the Interinstitutional Group on Information as observers six months ahead of the next UK presidency of the EU, and the UK will be represented at ministerial level when it holds the presidency.
	The next meeting of the Interinstitutional Group on Information is scheduled for 22 May. The agenda for that meeting has not yet been circulated.

European Union: Publicity

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will list the documents produced by the Inter-institutional Group on information in each of the last 10 years.

Geoff Hoon: Requests for this information can be made to the European Commission direct. The Commission provides the Secretariat to the Inter-Institutional Group on Information.

India: Diplomatic Service

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  how much ground rent is paid annually by the Indian Government for its high commission at 9 Kensington Gardens, London; and how much was paid for the current lease on the building;
	(2)  when the decision was made to make rent payable on the Indian high commission at 9 Kensington Gardens, London; for what reasons it was decided to levy a rental charge on the building; and if she will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: The Indian high commissioner's residence, at 9 Kensington Palace Gardens, is leased by the Indian Government from the Crown Estate; the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is not involved.

India: Diplomatic Service

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what reports she has received of the decision of the Indian Government to charge rent to the British high commission in India at 2 Rajaji Marg, Delhi; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  how much the Government are expected to pay the Indian Government in annual rent for the British high commission in India at 2 Rajaji Marg, Delhi;
	(3)  what representations she has made to the Indian Government on the rent payable on the British high commission in India; and if she will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: The Government have paid rent on 2 Rajaji Marg, the high commissioner's residence in New Delhi, since independence in 1947. At present, we are in negotiation with the Indian authorities on renewal of the lease, which we hope will be concluded shortly. I am sure the hon. Member will understand that I cannot go into precise details without jeopardising our negotiating position.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Constituencies

William Cash: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when the Privy Council is expected to meet to consider the statutory instrument bringing into effect the recent Boundary Commission report on English parliamentary constituencies.

Bridget Prentice: The House of Commons has now approved the draft order, and the House of Lords is due to consider it on 17 May. The next meeting of the Privy Council is on 13 June.

Devolution

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the formal arrangements for liaison between the UK Government and the devolved administration.

Bridget Prentice: There are strong bilateral relationships between the Scottish Executive and Welsh Assembly Government and Whitehall Departments, which are guided by principles underpinned in formal documents such as the Memorandums of Understanding between the UK Government and the devolved Administrations and supplementary concordats and devolution guidance notes, all of which are published on the Department's website. The Scotland and Wales Offices continue to work closely across Whitehall and with the devolved Administrations to ensure that good practice is followed and policies and legislation are successfully implemented, in a way that is consistent with the respective settlements.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Child Support Agency: Genetics

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many DNA samples have been taken by or, on behalf of, the Child Support Agency (CSA) in each year since its inception; in what circumstances and on what grounds the CSA may require someone to take a DNA test; how many DNA tests resulted in maintenance being demanded from those tested; how and by whom any DNA data obtained by the CSA are stored; for how long such data are stored; and to which other departments, agencies or authorities they may be made available.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 3 May 2007:
	In reply your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many DNA samples have been taken by or on behalf of the Child Support Agency (CSA) in each year since its inception; in what circumstances and on what ground the CSA may require someone to take a DNA test; how many DNA tests resulted in maintenance being demanded from those tested; how and by whom any DNA data obtained by the CSA is stored; for how long such data is stored; and to which other departments agencies or authorities it may be made available.
	The Child Support Agency does not require DNA tests to be carried out but may suggest a DNA test in cases where the parentage of a qualifying child is disputed. The parent with care and alleged non-resident parent must consent to such a test, as must the qualifying child if he or she is over the age of 16. If the alleged non-resident parent refuses to take a DNA test, the Agency may assume parentage and proceed accordingly.
	The information requested concerning the number of DNA tests undertaken on behalf of the Child Support Agency is provided in the attached table. However information is unavailable prior to 1997/8 and the Agency does not record information on how many DNA Tests result in the pursuit of maintenance from those tested. We do know that on average since 1997/98 around 84% of tests return a positive result and it may therefore be reasonable to assume that in these cases a maintenance assessment will be undertaken. We do not have figures on how many of these assessments result in a positive maintenance assessment and are subsequently pursued as there may also be other circumstances in which maintenance is not pursued, for example, if the parent with care requests the case be closed.
	DNA samples are stored in a secure environment by the Agency's contractor. Access to the data is restricted to laboratory staff, and managed by swipe card access controlled doors, alongside a number of other security measures. The case data is retained by the contractor for 3 months, and case records are kept for 1 year after the case has been resolved, after which they are destroyed by shedding and incineration.
	Finally the CSA does not routinely share data relating to individual DNA tests with any other Departments, Agencies or authorities.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.
	
		
			  Number of DNA tests undertaken on behalf of the Agency 
			   Number of tests taken 
			 1997-98 3,750 
			 1998-99 4,173 
			 1999-2000 3,317 
			 2000-01 2,938 
			 2001-02 2,346 
			 2002-03 4,146 
			 2003-04 2,444 
			 2004-05 2,888 
			 2005-06 2,454 
			  Note: CSA clerical MI is used from 1997/98 to 2001/02 for the number of tests taken. MI from the DNA test contractor is used from 2002/03 onwards for the number of tests taken.

Correspondence

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many letters to his Department sent from hon. Members during Session 2005-06 remain unanswered, broken down by those which are  (a) one,  (b) two,  (c) three,  (d) four and  (e) over six months old.

James Plaskitt: We have replied to 90 per cent. of the letters received by Ministers from hon. Members within 20 working days in both the 2005 and 2006 calendar years. We have also taken action to ensure the remainder are being dealt with as soon as possible thereafter. The available information shows that 425 of the letters received by Ministers from hon. Members during the 2006 calendar year remained unanswered on 10 January 2007. Of these  (a) 64 were one month old,  (b) seven were two months old and  (c) six were three months old,  (d) one was four months old and  (e) none was older.

Departments: Parliamentary Questions

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many questions tabled by hon. and right hon. Members to his Department for oral answer have been transferred to other departments since May 2005.

Anne McGuire: Four oral questions by hon. and right hon. Members to the Department for Work and Pensions have been transferred to other Government Departments since 1 May 2005.

Departments: Training

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 26 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1064W, on Departments training, how much was spent on training courses for staff aimed at reducing benefit fraud and error in 2006; and how many staff attended these courses in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Anne McGuire: Considerable effort and resources would need to be used on interrogating the Staff Information System in order to obtain information that could be used to work out costs for the 2006. Obtaining this level of information could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Departments: Training

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 26 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1064W, on Departments training, how much was spent on training away days for departmental staff in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Anne McGuire: Information on training away days is not classified separately from other learning and would be scheduled as an event along with other courses. Attendance at external events will have been recorded by individuals on their learning history. This information cannot be downloaded centrally. Obtaining this level of information could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Departments: Training

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 26 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1064W, on departments: training, how many people attended each course in each of the last three years for which figures are available; how many days were allocated to each course; which of these training courses were conducted at off-site locations; and which locations were used.

Anne McGuire: Considerable effort and resources would need to be used to interrogate the Staff Information System to obtain the level of detail required for 2006. Previous to this there were no IT systems in place to collect such detailed information. Any information still available would be held clerically at a local level. Obtaining this level of information could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Departments: Training

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 26 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1064W, on departments: training, how much was spent in 2006 on courses in  (a) media training for ministers,  (b) handling media for civil servants,  (c) strategic communications planning for civil servants,  (d) leadership in the outdoors for civil servants,  (e) managing change for benefits releases for civil servants,  (f) strategy training for civil servants,  (g) fireworks for civil servants,  (h) core consultancy skills for civil servants,  (i) public leadership for civil servants,  (j) the communications network programme for civil servants and  (k) turnaround leadership for civil servants in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Anne McGuire: (a) The total specific media training costs for Ministers for 2006 was £3,794.84.  (b-k) Considerable effort and resources would need to be used on interrogating the Staff Information System in order to obtain the level of detail required to identify the spend in 2006. Previous to this there were no IT systems in place to collect such detailed information. Any information still available would be held clerically at a local level. Obtaining this level of information could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Departments: Training

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 26 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1064W, on departments: training, how much was spent on courses for staff in his Department in  (a) stress awareness,  (b) self development,  (c) self awareness,  (d) creative thinking,  (e) curriculum vitae writing,  (f) running staff clubs,  (g) facilitation skills,  (h) non-verbal behaviour workshops,  (i) intervention skills and  (j) being a change agent workshops in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Anne McGuire: Considerable effort and resources would need to be used on interrogating the Staff Information System in order to obtain the level of detail required for 2006. Previous to this there were no IT systems in place to collect such detailed information. Any information that may still be available would be held clerically at a local level. Obtaining this level of information could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Departments: Visits Abroad

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 7 March 2007,  Official Report, column 2084W, on departments: visits abroad, how much his Department spent on foreign visits by staff which were subsequently cancelled in each of the last three years, broken down by  (a) destination and  (b) departmental agency.

Anne McGuire: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only by incurring disproportionate costs. The Department will incur just a minimal charge if a trip is cancelled in good time. For example the cancellation fee for flights is currently £9.25. For hotels, if cancelled before noon on date of arrival, the Department would not incur any cancellation charges at all.

Departments: Visits Abroad

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 7th March 2007,  Official Report, column 2084W, on Departments: visits abroad, what the foreign travel costs in his Department were for the last three years, broken down by  (a) destination,  (b) type of expenditure and  (c) departmental agency.

Anne McGuire: The information requested is available for the last 12 months but would require a detailed clerical examination in order to present it in the format requested, which would incur disproportionate costs.

Lone Parents

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of single parents on income support  (a) have never been married,  (b) are separated,  (c) are divorced and  (d) are widowers; and if he will give equivalent data for (i) five, (ii) 10, (iii) 15, (iv) 20 and (v) 30 years ago.

James Plaskitt: The information is not available.

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of  (a) existing and  (b) new (i) incapacity benefit and (ii) disability living allowance claimants received an independent medical assessment in each of the last five years.

Anne McGuire: The information is not available other than at disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits: Young People

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of 18 to 24-year-olds who were classified as not in employment, education or training, and who were claiming benefits, had been in that condition for  (a) 0 to six months,  (b) six to 12 months,  (c) 12 to 24 months and  (d) 24 months and over in each quarter since 1992.

Jim Murphy: holding answer 22 February 2007
	The information requested is not available.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Arts: Grants

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much  (a) the Film Council and  (b) the Arts Council of England (i) received from the National Lottery in 2006 and (ii) will receive from the National Lottery in 2007.

Richard Caborn: The following table shows the UK Film Council's and Arts Council of England's income, including investment income from the National Lottery Distribution Fund, for the financial years 2005-06 and 2006-07; and estimated figures based on the Departments latest income projections, for 2007-08.
	
		
			  £ 
			   Distributor 
			   UK Film Council  Arts Council of England 
			 Income 2005-06 to nearest £1,000 30,342,000 172,093,000 
			 Income 2006-07 to nearest £1,000 26,289,000 149,257,000 
			 Projected income 2007-08 to nearest £1,000 29,942,000 154,563,000

Departments: Energy

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what  (a) instructions are issued to staff in her Department and  (b) technical procedures are in place to shut down computers at night.

David Lammy: Guidance on energy saving, including switching off computers and monitors when not in use, is published on the Department's intranet. We are currently evaluating various tools aimed at making it easier to automatically manage IT power usage out of hours.

Departments: Marketing

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the cost was of the change in name from the Department of National Heritage to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

David Lammy: Following the introduction of the Department's new name in July 1997, a detailed review of all of the Department's internal and external communications processes was undertaken.
	Part of this review included the production of a new visual identity or logo. The cost of this element of the review was £26,000. The work included the development of the logo and the layout of all internal and external documents and stationery.

Departments: Renewable Energy

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much energy in kilowatt hours was purchased by her Department from renewable sources in the most recent year for which figures are available.

David Lammy: The Department purchased 4,412362 kilowatt hours from renewable sources in 2006-07.

Departments: Sexual Harassment

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many complaints of sexual harassment have been investigated in her Department in the last 12 months; and how many complaints have been upheld.

David Lammy: There have been no complaints of sexual harassment investigated in this Department in the last 12 months.

Gambling Act 2005

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what risk assessment has been carried out by her Department of the timetable and critical milestones leading to the 1 September implementation date for the Gambling Act 2005; and if she will place in the Library a copy of her Department's plan for managing risks identified.

Richard Caborn: As part of its programme management arrangements, the Department has assessed the risk to the implementation of the Gambling Act 2005 by 1 September 2007 at both individual workstream and overall programme level. Identified risks are monitored regularly and suitable controls are put in place. The plan for managing risks is an integral part of the programme risk register. I am unable to disclose the content of the register as to do so would inhibit the future provision of free and frank advice, and exchange of views.

Gambling: Licensing

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of companies in the UK gaming industry had applied for Operator Licences under the Gambling Act 2005 as at 31 March 2007.

Tessa Jowell: It is estimated that there are between 3,500 and 4,000 gambling operators in Great Britain. The number of operators who had applied to the Gambling Commission for operating licences by 31 March 2007 was 259, or 6-7 per cent. At 20 April it had received 758 applications which is estimated to be 19-22 per cent. of all operators.
	However, of the approximate number of operators who are encouraged to apply by 27 April in order to secure continuation rights, the Gambling Commission had received applications from 11 per cent. by 31 March and 32 per cent. by 20 April.

Horserace Totalisator Board

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 25 April 2006,  Official Report, column 1120W, on the horserace totalisator board; what discussions her Department has had with personnel from HM Treasury concerning the future of the Tote; when she expects to announce how the Government will proceed; and what time scales apply to her definition of shortly.

Richard Caborn: The Government are considering the offer they have received for the Tote businesses. We hope to be able to reach a decision on whether to proceed with further negotiations in the course of the next few weeks.

Labour Party: Fund Raising

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what role  (a) UK Sport,  (b) Sport England,  (c) the English Institute of Sport and  (d) the Youth Sports Trust will play in the Labour Party sports fundraiser to be held in July.

Richard Caborn: The organisations listed will be playing no role in the event outlined.

Sport England

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what Sport England's public service agreement targets are.

Richard Caborn: Sport England, as a non-departmental public body, does not have public service agreements (PSA), but does contribute towards delivery of the following Government PSAs:
	PSA Target 1: To enhance the take-up of sporting opportunities by five to 16-year-olds so that the percentage of school children who spend a minimum of two hours each week on high-quality PE and school sport within and beyond the curriculum increases from 25 per cent. in 2002 to 75 per cent. in 2006 and 85 per cent. by 2008; and to at least 75 per cent. in each School Sport Partnership by 2008 (joint target between the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES)).
	PSA Target 2: To halt the year on year increase in obesity among children under 11 years by 2010, as part of a broader strategy to tackle obesity in the population as a whole (joint target between DCMS, DfES and Department of Health).
	PSA Target 3: By 2008, increase the takeup of cultural and sporting opportunities by adults and young people aged 16 and above from priority groups by:
	Increasing the number who participate in active sports at least 12 times a year by 3 per cent. and increasing the number who engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity level sport, at least three times a week by 3 per cent.

Sports: Finance

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what level of funding will be available to  (a) Sportswatch and  (b) the National Sports Foundation in each of the next three years.

Richard Caborn: It is not possible to confirm any funding allocations for the next three years until departmental settlements from the comprehensive spending review 2007 are known.

Sports: Schools

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of school children took part in a minimum of two hours of PE or sport per week in school time in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: The joint DCMS/DfES National School Sport Strategy which aimed to increase the percentage of 5 to 16-year-olds spending at least two hours each week on high quality PE and school sport to 75 per cent. by 2006 and 85 per cent. by 2008 within and beyond the curriculum, commenced on the 1 April 2003.
	Progress against the target for children in School Sport Partnerships is measured annually using the National School Sport Survey. The Survey has demonstrated that 62 per cent. of school children achieved this target in 2003-04; 69 per cent. in 2004-05 and 80 per cent. in 2005-06.
	No data are available prior to the implementation of the strategy.

HEALTH

Breast Cancer: Screening

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate her Department has made of the attendance take-up rate of women aged between 50 and 70 years attending breast cancer screenings in each London primary care trust area; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the impact of recent trends in the number of breast screenings in North London;
	(3)  how many breast screening appointments were undertaken by each primary care trust in London in each of the last five years for which figures are available;
	(4)  how many breast screenings were undertaken by each primary care trust in London in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 30 April 2007
	The following tables show the coverage of women aged 50-70 in the London strategic health authority (SHA) area by primary care trust as at 31 March 2006. They also show the number of invites in the last four years by breast screening unit.
	Additional information can also be found in 'Breast Screening Programme, England 2005-06' (ISBN: 1-84636-095-1), a copy of which is available in the Library.
	The other information requested is not held centrally.
	
		
			  Breast screening programme: coverage of women aged 50-70 in London strategic health authority by primary care trust, 31 March 2006 
			50-70  50-52 
			   Org code  Eligible population( 1)  Number of women screened within 3 years  Coverage (less than 3 years since last test) (%)  Eligible population( 1)  Number of women screened within 3 years  Coverage (less than 3 years since last test) (%) 
			 London strategic health authority — 719,656 395,499 55.0 127,764 48,119 37.7 
			 Barking and Dagenham PCT 5C2 14,514 9,039 62.3 2,568 1,079 42.0 
			 Barnet PCT 5A9 35,299 19,296 54.7 6,034 2,225 36.9 
			 Bexley Care Trust TAK 24,914 17,433 70.0 3,956 1,523 38.5 
			 Brent Teaching PCT 5K5 27,565 14,569 52.9 5,118 2,033 39.7 
			 Bromley PCT 5A7 36,613 23,868 65.2 5,706 2,335 40.9 
			 Camden PCT 5K7 16,960 8,202 48.4 2,978 765 25.7 
			 City and Hackney PCT 5C3 17,456 7,755 44.4 3,679 887 24.1 
			 Croydon PCT 5K9 34,644 18,078 52.2 6,061 1,848 30.5 
			 Ealing PCT 5HX 31,366 16,658 53.1 5,723 2,244 39.2 
			 Enfield PCT 5C1 28,535 14,727 51.6 4,935 1,765 35.8 
			 Greenwich Teaching PCT 5A8 21,548 13,676 63.5 3,902 1,773 45.4 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham PCT 5H1 14,348 6,408 44.7 2,609 734 28.1 
			 Haringey Teaching PCT 5C9 22,381 10,036 44.8 4,233 1,351 31.9 
			 Harrow PCT 5K6 24,228 15,295 63.1 4,118 2,077 50.4 
			 Havering PCT 5A4 29,541 19,107 64.7 4,572 1,938 42.4 
			 Hillingdon PCT 5AT 25,638 15,392 60.0 4,407 2,151 48.8 
			 Hounslow PCT 5HY 22,695 11,132 49.1 4,179 1,388 33.2 
			 Islington PCT 5K8 15,991 7,982 49.9 2,968 1,008 34.0 
			 Kensington and Chelsea PCT 5LA 16,012 6,925 43.2 2,763 759 27.5 
			 Kingston PCT 5A5 16,680 10,020 60.1 2,997 1,236 41.2 
			 Lambeth PCT 5LD 22,801 12,597 55.2 4,529 1,867 41.2 
			 Lewisham PCT 5LF 22,293 13,693 61.4 4,125 1,935 46.9 
			 Newham PCT 5C5 20,368 9,903 48.6 3,973 1,553 39.1 
			 Redbridge PCT 5NA 24,673 13,179 53.4 4,410 2,001 45.4 
			 Richmond and Twickenham PCT 5M6 18,961 9,932 52.4 3,242 1,268 39.1 
			 Southwark PCT 5LE 19,974 10,997 55.1 3,930 1,277 32.5 
			 Sutton and Merton PCT 5M7 37,178 21,518 57.9 6,348 2,455 38.7 
			 Tower Hamlets PCT 5C4 13,372 6,206 46.4 2,478 927 37.4 
			 Waltham Forest PCT 5NC 21,737 12,372 56.9 3,963 1,443 36.4 
			 Wandsworth PCT 5LG 23,018 11,939 51.9 4,108 1,489 36.2 
			 Westminster PCT 5LC 18,353 7,565 41.2 3,152 785 24.9 
		
	
	
		
			53-54  55-59 
			   Org code  Eligible population( 1)  Number of women screened within 3 years  Coverage (less than 3 years since last test) (%)  Eligible population( 1)  Number of women screened within 3 years  Coverage (less than 3 years since last test) (%) 
			 London strategic health authority — 78,700 49,969 63.5 197,783 127,272 64.3 
			 Barking and Dagenham PCT 5C2 1,628 1,160 71.3 3,944 2,800 71.0 
			 Barnet PCT 5A9 3,810 2,490 65.4 9,726 6,613 68.0 
			 Bexley Care Trust TAK 2,550 1,927 75.6 6,947 5,322 76.6 
			 Brent Teaching PCT 5K5 3,083 1,926 62.5 7,114 4,530 63.7 
			 Bromley PCT 5A7 3,754 2,793 74.4 10,500 7,816 74.4 
			 Camden PCT 5K7 1,810 1,159 64.0 4,694 2,923 62.3 
			 City and Hackney PCT 5C3 1,966 1,100 56.0 4,698 2,619 55.7 
			 Croydon PCT 5K9 3,754 2,314 61.6 9,731 6,181 63.5 
			 Ealing PCT 5HX 3,546 2,287 64.5 8,446 5,387 63.8 
			 Enfield PCT 5C1 2,993 1,860 62.1 7,763 4,893 63.0 
			 Greenwich Teaching PCT 5A8 2,332 1,588 68.1 5,922 4,116 69.5 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham PCT 5H1 1,556 842 54.1 3,911 2,148 54.9 
			 Haringey Teaching PCT 5C9 2,558 1,393 54.5 6,059 3,387 55.9 
			 Harrow PCT 5K6 2,570 1,856 72.2 6,504 4,751 73.0 
			 Havering PCT 5A4 2,946 2,358 80.0 8,438 6,685 79.2 
			 Hillingdon PCT 5AT 2,704 1,837 67.9 7,144 4,904 68.6 
			 Hounslow PCT 5HY 2,598 1,556 59,9 6,327 3,719 58.8 
			 Islington PCT 5K8 1,796 1,034 57.6 4,300 2,473 57.5 
			 Kensington and Chelsea PCT 5LA 1,740 842 48.4 4,519 2,256 49.9 
			 Kingston PCT 5A5 1,819 1,286 70.7 4,877 3,525 72.3 
			 Lambeth PCT 5LD 2,559 1,542 60.3 5,887 3,614 61.4 
			 Lewisham PCT 5LF 2,414 1,616 66.9 5,754 3,843 66.8 
			 Newham PCT 5C5 2,442 1,419 58.1 5,473 3,193 58.3 
			 Redbridge PCT 5NA 2,771 1,416 51.1 6,847 3,718 54.3 
			 Richmond and Twickenham PCT 5M6 2,136 1,209 56.6 5,724 3,400 59.4 
			 Southwark PCT 5LE 2,200 1,378 62.6 5,242 3,264 62.3 
			 Sutton and Merton PCT 5M7 3,954 2,699 68.3 10,544 7,198 68.3 
			 Tower Hamlets PCT 5C4 1,610 834 51.8 3,359 1,784 53.1 
			 Waltham Forest PCT 5NC 2,482 1,645 66.3 5,885 3,767 64.0 
			 Wandsworth PCT 5LG 2,526 1,567 62.0 6,476 3,919 60.5 
			 Westminster PCT 5LC 2,093 1,036 49.5 5,028 2,524 50.2 
		
	
	
		
			60-64  65-69 
			   Org code  Eligible population( 1)  Number of women screened within 3 years  Coverage (less than 3 years since last test) (%)  Eligible population( 1)  Number of women screened within 3 years  Coverage (less than 3 years since last test) (%) 
			 London strategic health authority — 155,560 98,825 63.5 134,775 62,954 46.7 
			 Barking and Dagenham PCT 5C2 3,022 2,057 68.1 2,796 1,747 62.5 
			 Barnet PCT 5A9 7,825 5,321 68.0 6,641 2,366 35.6 
			 Bexley Care Trust TAK 5,605 4,340 77.4 4,952 3,704 74.8 
			 Brent Teaching PCT 5K5 5,978 3,786 63.3 5,298 2,051 38.7 
			 Bromley PCT 5A7 8,207 5,918 72.1 7,092 4,370 61.6 
			 Camden PCT 5K7 3,666 2,308 63.0 3,192 950 29.8 
			 City and Hackney PCT 5C3 3,518 1,940 55.1 3,050 1,114 36.5 
			 Croydon PCT 5K9 7,414 4,666 62.9 6,540 2,800 42.8 
			 Ealing PCT 5HX 6,681 4,147 62.1 5,877 2,302 39.2 
			 Enfield PCT 5C1 6,249 3,887 62.2 5,544 2,091 37.7 
			 Greenwich Teaching PCT 5A8 4,644 3,162 68.1 4,024 2,592 64.4 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham PCT 5H1 3,216 1,754 54.5 2,611 867 33.2 
			 Haringey Teaching PCT 5C9 4,678 2,587 55.3 4,118 1,214 29.5 
			 Harrow PCT 5K6 5,417 3,912 72.2 4,748 2,358 49.7 
			 Havering PCT 5A4 6,606 5,033 76.2 5,794 2,749 47.4 
			 Hillingdon PCT 5AT 5,500 3,630 66.0 4,913 2,494 50.8 
			 Hounslow PCT 5HY 4,770 2,810 58.9 4,077 1,517 37.2 
			 Islington PCT 5K8 3,472 2,015 58.0 2,896 1,261 43.5 
			 Kensington and Chelsea PCT 5LA 3,639 1,863 51.2 2,889 1,076 37.2 
			 Kingston PCT 5A5 3,550 2,472 69.6 2,907 1,387 47.7 
			 Lambeth PCT 5LD 4,877 2,865 58.7 4,201 2,338 55.7 
			 Lewisham PCT 5LF 4,816 3,143 65.3 4,365 2,675 61.3 
			 Newham PCT 5C5 4,075 2,330 57.2 3,758 1,295 34.5 
			 Redbridge PCT 5NA 5,278 3,004 56.9 4,546 2,564 56.4 
			 Richmond and Twickenham PCT 5M6 4,185 2,504 59.8 3,096 1,407 45.4 
			 Southwark PCT 5LE 4,106 2,526 61.5 3,776 2,181 57.8 
			 Sutton and Merton PCT 5M7 8,011 5,488 68.5 6,986 3,351 48.0 
			 Tower Hamlets PCT 5C4 2,753 1,348 49.0 2,687 1,142 42.5 
			 Waltham Forest PCT 5NC 4,696 2,938 62.6 4,019 2,213 55.1 
			 Wandsworth PCT 5LG 4,964 2,992 60.3 4,125 1,770 42.9 
			 Westminster PCT 5LC 4,142 2,079 50.2 3,257 1,008 30.9 
		
	
	
		
			70 
			   Org code  Eligible population( 1)  Number of women screened within 3 years  Coverage (less than 3 years since last test) (%) 
			 London strategic health authority — 25,074 8,360 33.3 
			 Barking and Dagenham PCT 5C2 556 196 35.3 
			 Barnet PCT 5A9 1,263 281 22.2 
			 Bexley Care Trust TAK 904 617 68.3 
			 Brent Teaching PCT 5K5 974 243 24.9 
			 Bromley PCT 5A7 1,354 636 47.0 
			 Camden PCT 5K7 620 97 15.6 
			 City and Hackney PCT 5C3 545 95 17.4 
			 Croydon PCT 5K9 1,144 269 23.5 
			 Ealing PCT 5HX 1,093 291 26.6 
			 Enfield PCT 5C1 1,051 231 22.0 
			 Greenwich Teaching PCT 5A8 724 445 61.5 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham PCT 5H1 445 63 14.2 
			 Haringey Teaching PCT 5C9 735 104 14.1 
			 Harrow PCT 5K6 871 341 39.2 
			 Havering PCT 5A4 1,185 344 29.0 
			 Hillingdon PCT 5AT 970 376 38.8 
			 Hounslow PCT 5HY 744 142 19.1 
			 Islington PCT 5K8 559 191 34.2 
			 Kensington and Chelsea PCT 5LA 462 129 27.9 
			 Kingston PCT 5A5 530 114 21.5 
			 Lambeth PCT 5LD 748 371 49.6 
			 Lewisham PCT 5LF 819 481 58.7 
			 Newham PCT 5C5 647 113 17.5 
			 Redbridge PCT 5NA 821 476 58.0 
			 Richmond and Twickenham PCT 5M6 578 144 24.9 
			 Southwark PCT 5LE 720 371 51.5 
			 Sutton and Merton PCT 5M7 1,335 327 24.5 
			 Tower Hamlets PCT 5C4 485 171 35.3 
			 Waltham Forest PCT 5NC 692 366 52.9 
			 Wandsworth PCT 5LG 819 202 24.7 
			 Westminster PCT 5LC 681 133 19.5 
			 (1)This is the number of women in the resident population less those recorded as ineligible.  Notes: 1. Coverage is best assessed using the 53-64 age group as women may be first called at any time between their 50th and 53rd birthdays. 2. The coverage of the screening programme is the proportion of women resident and eligible who have had a test with a recorded result at least once in the previous three years (excluding those ineligible, e.g. those that have had a bilateral mastectomy)  Source: KC63 The Information Centre

Childbirth

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of babies were born after less than  (a) 28 weeks,  (b) 27 weeks,  (c) 26 weeks,  (d) 25 weeks,  (e) 24 weeks,  (f) 23 weeks and  (g) 22 weeks gestation in (i) the latest period for which figures are available, (ii) 2001, (iii) 1990 and (iv) 1980;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of babies weighed equal to or less than  (a) 2500 grams,  (b) 2000 grams,  (c) 1500 grams and  (d) 1000 grams at birth in (i) the latest year for which figures are available, (ii) 2000, (iii) 1990 and (iv) 1980.

Ivan Lewis: Data taken from "NHS Maternity Statistics for England for 2004-05" (the most recent year for which we have data), 2000-01, and 1994-95 (the earliest year for which we have data), are set out in the tables. Each category includes all of the smaller categories.
	
		
			   2004-05  2000-01  1994-95 
			   Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage 
			 Total births 584,100  564,300  604,300  
			 Under 22 weeks 170 0.03 190 0.03 130 0.02 
			 Under 23 weeks 270 0.05 330 0.06 250 0.04 
			 Under 24 weeks 510 0.09 550 0.10 460 0.07 
			 Under 25 weeks 1,110 0.19 1,050 0.19 960 0.16 
			 Under 26 weeks 1,610 0.28 1,550 0.27 1,460 0.24 
			 Under 27 weeks 2,310 0.40 2,050 0.36 2,060 0.34 
			 Under 28 weeks 3,110 0.53 2,850 0.51 2,760 0.46 
		
	
	
		
			   2004-05  2000-01  1994-95 
			   Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage 
			 Under l,000g 3,600 0.62 3,100 0.55 2,800 0.46 
			 Under l,500g 7,800 1.34 6,800 1.20 6,700 1.11 
			 Under 2,000g 15,900 2.72 14,300 2.53 14,500 2.40 
			 Under 2,500g 42,500 7.28 39,000 6.91 39,300 6.50

Cost Shunting

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the oral answer to the hon. Member for Falmouth and Camborne (Julia Goldsworthy) of 24 April 2007,  Official Report, column 777, on cost shunting, whether she has made an assessment of the merits of permitting primary care trusts and local authority social services departments  (a) to amalgamate to form one organisation and  (b) to amalgamate their budgets to operate strategically through a single budget.

Ivan Lewis: The Department encourages close co-operation between local authorities and primary care trusts as this is in the best interests of the overall health and social care system and in improving the health and well-being of local communities. The approach taken to this co-operation is a matter for local decision, but there are powers to make joint appointments and for partnership arrangements, which include powers to create single pooled budgets, to be established as permitted under section 75 of the NHS Act 2006 and for an application to be made to the Secretary of State to establish a care trust as permitted under section 45 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001.

Good Hope Hospital

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cancelled operations there were in each of the last 10 years at Good Hope Hospital.

Andy Burnham: Data were collected at health authority level only prior to 2001-02. From 2001-02 onwards, data were collected at trust level.
	The number of last minute cancelled operations for non-clinical reasons at Good Hope Hospital NHS Trust for the years 2001-02 to 2005-06 are shown in the table.
	
		
			  Last minute cancelled operations for non-clinical reasons 
			   Number 
			 2001-02 550 
			 2002-03 781 
			 2003-04 761 
			 2004-05 465 
			 2005-06 565 
			  Note: A last minute cancellation is one that occurs on the day the patient was due to arrive, after they have arrived in hospital, or on the day of their operation.  Source: Department of Health dataset quarterly monitoring of cancelled operations (QMCO).

Health Services: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions she has had with Warrington Primary Care Trust on its decision to stop funding treatment services at a GP practice in Birchwood; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: The Department has had no discussions with Warrington primary care trust about the funding of treatment services at a general practitioner practice in Birchwood.

Health Services: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many people who work but do not live in Birchwood have been treated by the GP practices there in the last 12 months; and what assessment has been made of the likely impact on accident and emergency services at Warrington Hospital if there was a reduction in the number and types of services available at those practices;
	(2)  if she will ensure that an independent expert in primary care is appointed to review treatment room services provided in Birchwood during the six months of extended funding which has been offered by the primary care trust.

Andy Burnham: The information requested is not collected centrally. Warrington primary care trust, working in conjunction with North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust, is responsible for assessing the impact of any proposed changes to service provision.

Health Visitors: Manpower

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of health visitors working in the NHS; and what steps she is taking to increase these numbers.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 1 May 2007
	There were 12,034 health visitors in post as at 30 September 2006 in the national health services in England.
	The overall number of nurses working in primary and community care settings has significantly increased by over 29,500 (38.2 per cent.) since 1997.
	It is the responsibility of strategic health authorities and primary care trusts to commission, develop services in response to local needs, and to ensure that appropriate services are provided for the local population.

Healthcare: Acquired Infections

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2007,  Official Report, column 723W, on healthcare-acquired infections, when she expects the Health Protection Agency to publish on its website the number of reported cases of  (a) MRSA and  (b) Clostridium difficile for the period April 2006 to March 2007; and if she will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: Data on methicillin-resistant  Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections have been collected through the mandatory surveillance scheme since April 2001 and are published by financial year (April to March). The Health Protection Agency (HPA) plans to publish the data for the last financial year (April 2006 to March 2007) in late July 2007.
	Data on  Clostridium difficile associated disease have been collected through the mandatory surveillance scheme since January 2004 and are published by calendar year. Data for 2006 are due to be published in April 2007 and the HPA plans to publish the data for the first quarter of 2007 (January to March) in late July 2007.
	Data on both diseases have been routinely published quarterly since January 2007.

Healthcare: Acquired Infections

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 11 October 2006,  Official Report, column 774W, on MRSA, what progress her Department has made on its internal desk analysis of hospital organisation specialty mix and MRSA; and when she plans to publish the report.

Ivan Lewis: As part of its programme to reduce healthcare associated infections the Department is undertaking peer review of this internal desk analysis. It is planned to publish this later this year once the peer review is complete.

Healthcare: Acquired Infections

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of STERIS Vaporized Hydrogen Peroxide technology in tackling MRSA within the NHS.

Ivan Lewis: The Rapid Review Panel has reviewed Steris' vaporised hydrogen peroxide and awarded it a recommendation 2 stating that basic research and development has been completed and the product may have potential value; in use evaluations/trials are now needed in an national health service clinical setting.
	The Department is currently funding a project to evaluate environmental cleaning for methicillin-resistant  Staphylococcus aureus. As part of this Steris' vaporised hydrogen peroxide equipment will be evaluated alongside wet disinfection in both a hospital side room and a controlled exposure chamber.

Hospitals: Hygiene

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent on improving hygiene in hospitals in each of the last five years.

Ivan Lewis: Information is not collected centrally on the amount that has been spent on hospital hygiene in the last five years. However, as a measure of the importance that the Government attach to this matter, a capital fund of £50 million was launched in December 2006 to support local initiatives to improve hygiene standards.

Hospitals: Leeds

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the plans for a children's and maternity hospital in Leeds.

Ivan Lewis: Making Leeds Better is a comprehensive plan for improving healthcare in the city. It is the ambition of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, the Leeds Primary Care Trust (PCT) and the national health service to centre children's services on one new site in the city. This remains the case.
	However, concerns have been raised about the affordability of this project. Leeds PCT is investigating how this might be resolved prior to public consultation and the next major milestone, the submission of the outline business case, which is still over 20 months away.
	No decision will be taken on Making Leeds Better without public involvement.

Hyperactivity

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in  (a) England,  (b) the North East and  (c) the area corresponding as closely as possible to Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland were diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in each of the last seven years.

Ivan Lewis: Information is not collected on the number of people diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
	In March 2006, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published guidance on the use of drugs to treat ADHD. NICE has estimated that around 5 per cent. of school-aged children meet the diagnostic criteria for ADHD, equivalent to 366,000 children and adolescents in England and Wales, but not all these children will require medication.
	The position concerning ADHD in adults is unclear. There have been a number of follow-up studies of those given the diagnosis as children, which indicate that a small proportion may continue with ADHD problems into adulthood.

Members: Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 19 April 2007,  Official Report, column 746W, on Members' correspondence, when she will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Billericay of 14 March on the proposed independent sector treatment centre for Basildon.

Andy Burnham: holding answer 30 April 2007
	I will respond to the letter of 14 March from the hon. Member for Billericay shortly.

Members: Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 24 April 2007,  Official Report, column 1045W, on Members' correspondence, when she will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Billericay of 8 March concerning Mr. O'Reilly.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 30 April 2007
	The Department received a copy of the letter from the hon. Member on 26 April 2007. A reply was issued on 2 May 2007.

Mental Health Services: Greater Manchester

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was provided in unweighted allocated funds per head of population for mental health services in  (a) Trafford and  (b) Salford in the last 12 months.

Rosie Winterton: Separate allocations are not made for mental health services. It is for each primary care trust (PCT) to determine what proportion of the resources allocated to it are spent on commissioning mental health services and on the other health care needs of their local populations.
	The latest allocations made to the Salford and Trafford PCTs are set out in the following table.
	
		
			  £ million 
			   2006-07  2007-08 
			 Salford 346.8 374.6 
			 Trafford 275.4 299.5

Mental Health Services: Greater Manchester

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average time was between referral and first appointment for primary care psychological services in  (a) Trafford and  (b) Salford in the last 12 months.

Rosie Winterton: The requested information is not collected centrally.

Mid-Essex Primary Care Trust

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 12 March 2007,  Official Report, column 132W, on Mid-Essex Primary Care Trust, how many administrative staff there are in the Mid-Essex Primary Care Trust.

Andy Burnham: The following table shows the staffing figures as at September 2006 (which are the latest data available within the Department).
	
		
			  NHS hospital and community health services: administrative staff in the Mid-Essex primary care trust( 1)  by level  as at 30 September 2006 
			   2005( 1)  2006 
			  Headcount   
			 Total administrative staff 365 342 
			 Senior manager 18 19 
			 Manager 56 51 
			 Clerical and administrative 291 272 
			
			  Full-time equivalent   
			 Total administrative staff 283 264 
			 Senior manager 18 18 
			 Manager 52 47 
			 Clerical and administrative 213 199 
			 (1) Mid-Essex PCT was formed on 1 October 2006 from a complete merger of Chelmsford PCT, Maldon and South Chelmsford PCT and Waltham, Baintree and Halstead care trust. 2005 figures are an aggregate of these three predecessor organisations, provided for the purposes of comparison. Due to various complex issues, it is not possible to directly compare previous staffing levels with those of the newly formed PCT—as not all local authority boundaries are co-terminus with those of PCT.  Source: The Information Centre for health and social care Non-Medical Workforce Census.

Multiple Sclerosis: Medical Treatments

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many people received treatment for multiple sclerosis in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) England in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many people were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) England in each year since 1997.

Ivan Lewis: Information on the number of people diagnosed with, and receiving treatment for, multiple sclerosis is not collected.

NHS: Negligence

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many claims for alleged clinical negligence against the NHS were closed in each year since 1995; what the cost was of such claims in each year in  (a) nominal and  (b) real terms; and how many and what proportion of such claims were successful in each year.

Andy Burnham: holding answer 23 April 2007
	 Information on closed claims is presented within the following tables.
	Table 1 shows how many clinical negligence claims have been closed by year since 1995, and includes what proportion of such claims were closed with damages (successful).
	Table 2 shows the costs of closed clinical negligence claims by year since 1995 in nominal and real terms.
	The following points should be noted:
	The tables only include closed claims. It therefore excludes claims which are open but resolved for example, where the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) are still negotiating legal fees or where there is an ongoing obligation to make payments to the patient, such as where a periodic payment regime exists.
	Category A claims are lower value claims that were handled by individual trusts up to 2002, and were reported to NHSLA upon completion. The NHSLA cannot account for the accuracy of the reported data.
	Similarly, until 2000, individual trusts handled and funded existing liabilities scheme (ELS) claims less than £10,000 themselves. However these claims were never notified to the NHSLA on completion. Hence any of these smaller valued claims which closed prior to the ELS call-in in April 2000 will be missing from the data.
	Table 2 shows the total value of the claims which closed in the year in question but the actual payments may have been spread over several financial years.
	The real terms figures in table 2 are calculated using the deflator series provided by HM Treasury on 28 March 2007.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of clinical negligence claims closed by year of closure including category A claims 
			   Number of claims 
			  Year of closure  Closed—nil damages  Closed with damages  Total closed  % Closed with damages 
			 1995-96 90 11 101 10.89 
			 1996-97 175 60 235 25.53 
			 1997-98 218 731 949 77.03 
			 1998-99 1,713 2,344 4,057 57.78 
			 1999-2000 2,794 3,771 6,565 57.44 
			 2000-01 3,822 3,080 6,902 44.62 
			 2001-02 4,995 3,761 8,756 42.95 
			 2002-03 3,981 2,939 6,920 42.47 
			 2003-04 4,043 3,140 7,183 43.71 
			 2004-05 4,101 3,501 7,602 46.05 
			 2005-06 3,146 3,333 6,479 51.44 
			 2006-07 3,330 3,208 6,538 49.07 
			 Grand total 32,408 29,879 62,287 47.97 
		
	
	
		
			  Table  2:  Value of clinical negligence claims closed by year of closure including category A claims 
			   Payments 
			  Year of closure  Damages paid  Defence costs paid  Claimant costs paid  Total paid  Total paid in real terms with 2005-06 as reference year 
			 1995-96 170,028 56,476 68,016 294,520 378,551 
			 1996-97 1,063,160 363,379 342,282 1,768,821 2,199,451 
			 1997-98 36,541,852 7,065,903 10,353,934 53,961,690 65,203,410 
			 1998-99 75,560,281 21,541,336 26,922,960 124,024,578 146,146,822 
			 1999-2000 285,740,566 42,490,778 64,751,113 392,982,457 453,900,434 
			 2000-01 187,053,823 35,708,422 44,260,552 267,022,797 304,140,048 
			 2001-02 374,545,865 56,642,017 72,446,479 503,634,360 560,340,855 
			 2002-03 357,000,453 48,001,443 62,273,578 467,275,474 504,284,946 
			 2003-04 279,212,845 43,286,729 58,283,364 380,782,938 399,076,610 
			 2004-05 375,299,535 52,815,271 76,055,705 504,170,511 514,213,093 
			 2005-06 372,820,500 49,598,018 83,232,436 505,650,954 505,650,954 
			 2006-07 332,747,955 49,735,584 83,793,055 466,276,595 455,001,654 
			 Grand total 2,677,756,865 407,305,356 582,783,474 3,667,845,695 3,910,536,828

DEFENCE

Aircraft Carriers

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reason the announcement of the order of the Future Aircraft Carriers has been delayed; and what his estimate is of the probable in-service date of  (a) HMS Queen Elizabeth and  (b) HMS Prince of Wales.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 1 May 2007
	 No date has been set for an announcement and there has, therefore, been no delay. However, as my noble Friend the Minister of State for Defence Equipment and Support, Lord Drayson, stated in another place on 18 January 2007,  Official Report, column 776, we are looking to get a robust, affordable deal negotiated quickly to allow a main investment decision to be taken as soon as possible.
	With regards to in-service dates, I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski) on 31 October 2006,  Official Report, column 326W.

Armed Forces: Cadets

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people were enrolled in  (a) gap year commission and  (b) the combined cadet force in each year since 1997.

Derek Twigg: On the subject of gap year commissions, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr. Mitchell) on 5 February 2007,  Official Report, column 687W.
	Gap year commissions were introduced in 2000. Prior to 2000, personnel were granted a short service limited commission. Enrolments are interpreted to be those personnel on the strengths at each point shown.
	The strength of untrained regular Army officers on a short service limited commission/gap year commission at 1 April each year is as follows:
	
		
			   Strength 
			 1997 20 
			 1998 70 
			 1999 50 
			 2000 80 
			 2001 50 
			 2002 80 
			 2003 80 
			 2004 70 
			 2005 30 
			 2006 40 
			 2007 (1)60 
			 (1 )At 1 February 2007 
		
	
	The combined cadet force (CCF) is not a recruiting organisation. Although annual records of overall numbers in the CCF are held at 1 April each year since 1999, MOD does not keep account of yearly inflow and outflow numbers.
	The annual numbers for the CCF, for years 1999 to 2006, are shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Officers  Cadets  Non-commissioned officers( 1)  Total 
			 1999 1,750 40,010 210 41,970 
			 2000 1,780 40,550 220 42,540 
			 2001 1,790 40,780 230 42,810 
			 2002 1,780 40,970 220 42,980 
			 2003 1,840 41,270 230 43,340 
			 2004 1,890 41,910 240 44,040 
			 2005 1,910 42,460 240 44,600 
			 2006 1,910 42,030 250 44,190 
			 (1) School staff instructors  Note: Totals and components have been rounded separately to the nearest 10 (numbers ending in "5" have been rounded to the nearest 20 to prevent systematic bias) and so may not equal the sum of their rounded parts. 
		
	
	A more detailed breakdown of the strength of all services' reserves and cadets is published annually and is available at:
	http://www.dasa.mod.uk/natstats/tsp7/tsp7tab1.html

Armed Forces: Council Tax

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 16 April 2007,  Official Report, column 130W, on Armed Forces: Council Tax, what options are being considered; when he expects to publish his proposals; and what powers he has to ensure that his proposals are implemented across the UK.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 2 May 2007
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 30 April 2007,  Official Report, column 1455W.

Armed Forces: Ethnic Groups

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what proportion of recruits to each of the armed forces were from ethnic minorities in each of the last five years; and how many were  (a) British and  (b) foreign nationals.

Derek Twigg: The information requested is currently being collated. I will write to the hon. Member when this is complete and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Armed Forces: Military Aircraft

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the Nimrod MRA4 aircraft to be brought into service.

Adam Ingram: The planned in service date for the Nimrod MRA4 aircraft is 2010.

Armed Forces: South Africa

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contingency plans his Department has put in place to manage service personnel who are South African if the South African Prohibition of Mercenary Activities and Regulation of Certain Activities in Areas of Armed Conflict Bill is enacted.

Adam Ingram: We are urgently investigating the potential consequences for South African personnel currently serving in the UK armed forces, should the legislation be enacted, so that we can support those who may be affected.
	Active engagement with the South African Department of Defence is ongoing to try and mitigate the effect of the Bill on the armed forces.

Army Costs

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 20 March 2007,  Official Report, columns 749-50W, on Army costs, what the reasons were for the amount spent on maintenance of rented property occupied by the Adjutant General; and if he will break down the costs incurred for that maintenance.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 26 March 2007
	The figure of £13,284,44 previously provided under the generic heading "maintenance" covered a range of costs including the supply of replacement equipment; redecoration; rectification of faults; and the supply and erection of garden fencing. A breakdown follows:
	
		
			  Description of maintenance  Cost  (£) 
			 Redecoration 863 
			 Renew trellis fence panel 39 
			 Repair leak to cast iron stack pipe 24 
			 Supply and erect chicken wire fence 1,150 
			 Supply and deliver 12.5lts of supa-stadia pitch marker 17 
			 Supply and fit hooks and white PVC coated metal chain fitted to wooden posts 1,890 
			 Reposition and upgrade radiator wall stats 35 
			 Remove wooden casement around hand basin and bring hand basin back into working order. Check any electrics, and make good any decoration 538 
			 Decorations to the study and kitchen/utility room 491 
			 Clear blockage to toilet pan 43 
			 Renew electric shower 334 
			 Patch repair paper to wall and repair paintwork 28 
			 Refix gate handle to wooden gate 6 
			 Repair to shower 82 
			 Renew mortise lock and furniture 75 
			 Renew shelf to inside of door to built in fridge 50 
			 Clear blockage to toilet pan 154 
			 Refit carpet to stairs 29 
			 Fit family size microwave oven 230 
			 Locate/rectify fault to security lights 28 
			 Clean carpet 25 
			 Renew electric cooker 576 
			 Rectifying faults to dishwasher 47 
			 Replace dishwasher 336 
			 Redecorate all walls after repairs 200 
			 Smoke test chimney 29 
			 Work following recommendations on chimney flue 195 
			 Fit trickle vents to new PVC windows 130 
			 Locate boiler fault and repair 210 
			 Replace washing machine door gasket 62 
			 Renew fluorescent light fitting 52 
			 Ease and adjust doors 52 
			 Renew brick paving-sand 41 
			 Minor furniture and equipment costs 402 
			 Purchase of tractor mower to replace beyond economical repair item 2,090 
			 Purchase of tableware 2,686

Commonwealth Task Force

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the progress of the Commonwealth task force.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 30 April 2007
	The Army's Foreign and Commonwealth task force was set up in 2004 and works to identify concerns and to implement practical and achievable measures to ameliorate them. Since its inception, the task force has seen adjustments to Tri-Service or Army policy and guidance, including changes in other Government Department regulations.
	Notable developments have included:
	Reviewing services allowances and ensuring priority allowances take account of country of origin implications;
	Promulgating guidance on in-service UK naturalisation opportunities; and
	Providing a Commonwealth soldiers and families information website.
	The task force met most recently on 26 April 2007. There are a number of ongoing issues; dialogue continues with other Government Departments where appropriate, while work within MOD control includes providing improved guidance for non-British soldiers during initial training and improving the flow of communications through the chain of command to both soldiers and their accompanying families.

Departments: Manpower

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military personnel are based in the North East.

Derek Twigg: Details of UK Regular Forces stationed in the North East region are given in the following table.
	
		
			   1 April 2006  1 October 2006 
			 Total (1)1,510 n/a 
			 Naval Service 30 30 
			 Army 760 750 
			 RAF (1)710 n/a 
			 n/a = not available. (1) Provisional. 
		
	
	Due to the introduction of a new Personnel Administration System (JPA), RAF location data for 1 April 2006 are provisional and subject to review, and after 1 April 2006 are not available.

Departments: Manpower

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Ministry of Defence establishments there are in the North East.

Derek Twigg: Within the official North East Government Office Region, the Ministry of Defence has nine establishments, excluding Reserve Forces Cadet Association sites and Careers Offices which are not considered to be main establishments.
	The nine establishments are:
	Albermarle Barracks
	Army Museum Alnwick Castle
	Bowes Moor Chemical Weapon Stores
	Catterick Training Area
	HMS Calliope
	Otterburn Training Area
	RAF Boulmer
	RAF Spadeadam
	Warcop Army Field Training Centre

EU Defence Policy

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many personnel from non-European Union member states are assigned to the European Union Military Staff.

Adam Ingram: None.

EU Defence Policy

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which British military units will form the EU Battle Group in 2008.

Adam Ingram: The British military units which will form the EU Battle Group that the United Kingdom will have on standby in the second half of 2008 will come from our Joint Rapid Reaction Force. We have yet to nominate the particular Battalion to provide the core of this capability. A decision is likely to be taken during the summer.

EU Defence Policy

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British service personnel are assigned to the European Union Military Staff.

Adam Ingram: 18 British service personnel are currently assigned to the European Union Military Staff.

Ex-servicemen: Health Services

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps the Government take to ensure that war pensioners receive priority treatment on the NHS for their accepted disablements; what systems the Government have in place to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of these measures; and how many war pensioners were given priority treatment on the NHS for their accepted disablements in each year since 1997.

Derek Twigg: NHS hospitals should give priority to war pensioners, both as out-patients and in-patients, for examination or treatment relating to their pensioned disablement, subject to clinical priority. Reminders about priority treatment for war pensioners are circulated by the health services to senior NHS managers who are tasked to ensure that relevant clinical staff are aware.There is no formal system to monitor or evaluate the provision, but officials take up cases with the relevant health authority where it is alleged that there is an issue around provision of priority treatment. The Service Personnel and Veterans Agency monitor these cases. The Ministry of Defence and its Service Personnel and Veterans Agency do not keep records of those war pensioners who receive priority treatment for their accepted disablements; this is a matter for the Department of Health.

Iraq: Peace-Keeping Operations

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements have been made for members of Royal Welsh Regiments 1 and 2 to visit friends and families before deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: The First and Second Battalion the Royal Welsh will be deploying to both Afghanistan and Iraq this year (in the case of the Second Battalion the Royal Welsh the entire unit will deploy to Iraq; the First Battalion the Royal Welsh will send troops to both theatres).Generally, commanders will ensure that troops who are about to deploy receive up to three consecutive weeks leave during the two months prior to deployment.The First Battalion the Royal Welsh (1 RW) is based permanently in Cyprus, and in most cases spouses and children are located with the unit. The elements of 1 RW who will be deploying have already had their pre-deployment leave (Friday 30 March to Wednesday 18 April). However, a handful of personnel were not able to take this in full owing to operational commitment. Arrangements are in place for those affected to return to their home base and receive the balance of leave owed shortly after the unit arrives in theatre.The Second Battalion the Royal Welsh (2 RW) is based in Tidworth, Wiltshire. 2 RW have been on leave since after duties on Friday 30 March and returned to work on Monday 23 April.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the Joint Combat Aircraft to be available for service with the Royal Navy.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 1 May 2007
	 As my hon. Friend Lord Drayson, who has ministerial responsibility for equipment and support stated in the other place on 8 January 2007,  Official Report, column WA8, we will not be setting in-service dates for the Joint Combat Aircraft (JCA) until we take the main investment decision, and we will take that decision when the project is sufficiently mature. Our plans for JCA remain coherent with the CVF programme.

Navy: Deployment

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 26 March 2007,  Official Report, column 1359W, on Navy: deployment, whether any other ships are held at low readiness.

Adam Ingram: As I made clear in my letter of the 6 March 2007 to the hon. Member for New Forest, East (Dr. Lewis), copies of which were placed in the Library of the House, it is not MOD policy to publish details of the readiness states of individual RN vessels or types. The only exceptions are HMS Invincible and ships in refit: currently HMS Gloucester, HMS Liverpool, HMS Cumberland, HMS Somerset, HMS Iron Duke, HMS Chiddingfold and HMS Grimsby. These eight ships are all at low or very low readiness. In addition, HMS St. Albans is preparing for refit.

Nimrod Aircraft

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the costs of replacing the  (a) air-to-air refuelling system,  (b) wing fuel tanks and  (c) single skin fuel pipes in his decision to refurbish the current fleet of Nimrod MR2 R1 aircraft.

Adam Ingram: The MR2 and the R1 are two separate variants of the Nimrod aircraft. There are no current plans to refurbish the MR2 fleet before it is replaced by the Nimrod MRA4 aircraft. The MRA4 design was costed as a whole, not by individual elements such as the air to air refuelling system, the wing fuel tanks or the fuel system. No decisions have yet been taken on whether the R1 platform will carry the replacement for the current mission system, and whether the R1 fleet would be refurbished.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Apprentices: Curriculum

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he has taken to involve industry and businesses in the content of apprenticeship courses.

Phil Hope: We have listened to employers and have involved industry and businesses extensively in the development of apprenticeships resulting in improvements to apprenticeship frameworks to keep them up-to-date and to make them more flexible. We will be working ever more closely with employer organisations to deliver the planned apprenticeship entitlement and the Leitch UK target of 500,000 apprentices by 2020. Development of new or revised apprenticeship frameworks for each industry are the responsibility of Sector Skills Councils (SSCs). Each SSC is an employer-led, independent organisation that covers a specific sector across the UK and provides employers with a unique forum to express the skills and productivity needs that are pertinent to the sector. Apprenticeship frameworks therefore reflect employer needs and requirements.
	Frameworks are also submitted to a group of SSC peers for approval and to ensure minimum qualification requirements are met.

Bookstart Scheme

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in Hendon participated in the Bookstart programme in the last year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: Booktrust tells me that the total number of packs issued to children in Hendon between April 2006 and March 2007 is as follows:
	557 Bookstart baby packs
	1,058 Bookstart Plus toddler packs
	828 Treasure Chest packs for 3-year-olds
	Over the three year period 2005-08 we are providing £27 million to Booktrust for the Bookstart Programme.

Child Care

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funding is available to support child care for children  (a) with disabilities and  (b) without disabilities.

Beverley Hughes: The Government are investing in a wide range of financial support for child care in England. We are investing some £3 billion each year in the delivery of free part-time nursery education so that all three and four-year-olds can benefit from 12.5 hours a week free early years provision, rising to 15 hours a week by 2010.
	Further funding to support child care is also provided through the General Sure Start Grant (GSSG). This includes supporting child care for disabled children and children with special educational needs (SEN). The GSSG can be used to provide training to staff, enable early education and child care settings to make adaptations to premises and equipment, provide additional staff and support multi-agency working focused on the needs of individual children for example as developed by the Early Support Programme for disabled children and their parents.
	Local authorities have the freedom to decide how much they wish to spend on activity related to disability and SEN within the GSSG based on their knowledge of the local market. In 2007-08, £664 million of revenue funding and £544 million of capital funding is available to local authorities through the GSSG. Local authorities now have a duty through the Childcare Act 2006 to secure sufficient child care provision in their area for all children with a specific focus on provision that is suitable for disabled children.
	Further funding is available to parents through the child tax credit, and the working tax credit, which was introduced in April 2003. The child care element of the working tax credit is designed to help remove the child care barrier that often prevents people taking up or returning to work. It is available for meeting up to 80 per cent. of the cost of registered or approved child care to a maximum childcare cost of £175 a week for families who pay child care for one child and £300 a week for families who pay child care for two children or more. For parents with disabled children, additional funding to help with the costs of child care is provided through the disability living allowance, the carers allowance and the disability and severe disability elements of the child tax credit. A longer period of help is given to families for children with disability.
	Child care can be subsidised in a variety of other ways including local authority subsidies, Jobcentre Plus New Deals, Care to Learn, Learner Support Funds and NHS child care allowances. The Department supports initiatives with sector organisations such as the National Portage Association and Kids, to raise awareness and change attitudes towards the delivery of services for disabled children. Parents of disabled children can also apply for direct payments from local authorities in some circumstances.

Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many people are employed by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS), broken down by  (a) part-time and  (b) full-time staff; and what the average length of service is of CAFCASS employees;
	(2)  what the average length of time taken for a case before the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service officer was in  (a) the last 12 months and  (b) each of the last five years.

Parmjit Dhanda: These are matters for the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS). Anthony Douglas, the Chief Executive, will write to the hon. Member with this information and a copy of his letter will be placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Anthony Douglas, dated 30 April 2007:
	I am writing to you in response to the two Parliamentary Questions that you tabled recently.
	The table below details the number of part-time and full-time staff CAFCASS currently employs.
	
		
			   CAFCASS staff 
			 Full-time 1,405 
			 Part-time 491 
			 Total 1,896 
		
	
	In 2006/07, of the cases that CAFCASS closed, the average duration was as follows:
	
		
			  Cases  Days 
			 Public 334 
			 Private 257 
		
	
	This was the first year CAFCASS could collect these figures, following the introduction of our national case management system. Prior to this, the pre-CAFCASS legacy systems prevented us being able to arrive at a robust national figure.
	A copy of this reply will be placed in the House Library.

Education Act 1996

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many  (a) successful and  (b) unsuccessful appeals have been made to him by parents under sections 496 and 497 of the Education Act 1996 in each year since 1997, broken down by local authority.

Jim Knight: Data on heard and successful admissions appeals for all local education authorities in England covering the years 1997/98 to 2004/05 (the latest year for which data is available), have been placed in the House Library.

Further Education: Standards

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the impact of the Learning and Skills Council's proposed star rating on  (a) further education and  (b) sixth form colleges.

Phil Hope: The proposed star rating system—the Framework for Excellence (FfE) and the associated strategies announced in the White Paper 'Further Education: Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances' will be developed and implemented as part of a coherent and evolving package of reform. The framework aims to improve the quality of post-16 provision and support better-informed choices and decisions by employers and individuals, thereby contributing to better and more relevant outcomes for end users, increasing skill levels in the workforce and increased productivity.
	The Framework is in an early stage of development and will be piloted this summer in approximately 100 general FE, 6(th) form colleges and work-based learning providers. It will enable further education institutions to use a single performance management framework, with common sets of data and performance indicators instead of a number of different frameworks. Thus the framework will be more streamlined than existing arrangements and should help to reduce bureaucracy.

Higher Education: Scholarships

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what mechanisms exist for the Office for Fair Access to ensure higher education institutions spend budgeted levels on income-assessed non-repayable bursaries.

Bill Rammell: The Office for Fair Access (OFFA) requires institutions in their annual monitoring returns to report on the amount of spend on bursaries and scholarships disbursed to low income and other under-represented groups. OFFA is then under a statutory duty to provide an annual report to Parliament containing an overview of progress. Monitoring returns are due at the end of the academic year (end of July 2007). OFFA will analyse the returns over the summer and publish a short report on the findings of the monitoring process in autumn/winter 2007.
	OFFA has successfully ensured that all institutions that have chosen to set fees above the basic level have successfully completed an access agreement. As a result these institutions are forecast to deliver in excess of £300 million per year in bursaries to students. I am aware that concerns have been raised about a potential underspend on bursaries in some universities. As I said in the Higher Education debate on 15 March 2007:
	'I have been monitoring that situation very closely. The overall scale of underspend has been exaggerated in some reports. In several universities, including a significant number in the Russell group, the projections are that there will be no underspend at all.
	Forecasts of spend inevitably carry with them some uncertainty, especially in the first year of an entirely new bursary scheme, and some universities set a high figure for reasons of prudent financial management. I am not in the business of unfairly or unjustly criticising people. OFFA will monitor expenditure and performance annually, and we will have a full picture of year 1 after the relevant monitoring information has been collected this summer.
	At the same time, universities should be doing all they can to ensure that students get the support to which they are entitled. In recent weeks, several vice-chancellors have explicitly said to me that they intend to invest any underspend in their original bursary estimates on other measures to improve social inclusion. One of them told me:
	"The money for bursaries is 'budgeted out'. If it cannot be spent on bursaries, then it will go to support other widening participation projects."
	That is heartening. I would urge all universities forecasting a genuine underspend on bursaries to take that approach.'— [ Official Report, 15 March 2007; Vol. 458, c.494.]

Members: Correspondence

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  when he will reply to the letter of 19 January from the hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead on the account taken of plans for new homes in Hemel Hempstead constituency in determining the closures and amalgamations of schools in the area;
	(2)  when he will answer the  (a) letter of 19 January 2007 and  (b) question of 8 March 2007 for answer on 13 March 2007 from the hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead, on the account taken of plans for new homes in Hemel Hempstead constituency in determining the closures and amalgamations of schools in the area.

Jim Knight: holding answers 13 March and 26 April 2007
	I regret that the Department has no record of receiving the hon. Member's letter of 19 January 2007.
	Changes to local school organisation, including school closures and amalgamations, require the publication of statutory proposals which are decided under local decision-making arrangements. Ministers have no role. When taking a decision on proposals, the decision maker must have regard to guidance issued by the Secretary of State. This guidance sets out a range of factors that should be considered for the different types of proposals. The factors include considering the need for school places, taking into account pupil number projections.

Pre-school Education: Expenditure

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures the Government have in place for monitoring how funds for School Action and School Action Plus are spent; and what systems exist to evaluate the efficacy of the expenditure.

Beverley Hughes: There is a duty on local authorities to provide an explanation of that element of special educational provision for children with special educational needs (but without statements) which the local authority expects normally to be met from maintained schools' budget shares and that element of such provision that the authority expects normally to be met by funds which it holds centrally.
	Local authorities must also provide information on the arrangements made by them for auditing, planning, monitoring and reviewing provision for children with special educational needs, both generally and in relation to individual children.
	Details of the broad aims of local authorities' SEN policies, including the aforementioned information, must be published on their websites.
	Ofsted school inspections judge the extent to which learners with special educational needs and disabilities make progress, and how effectively and efficiently schools deploy their resources to achieve value for money. Inspectorates' area-level assessments and inspections of children's services cover local authority services for children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

Pupil Referral Units

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many and what percentage of pupil referral units were in Ofsted categories  (a) special measures and  (b) notice to improve in (i) 2006 and (ii) 2007, broken down by local authority;
	(2)  how many and what percentage of pupil referral units were in Ofsted categories  (a) special measures,  (b) serious weaknesses and  (c) underachieving in each year since 1997, broken down by local authority.

Jim Knight: The information requested has been placed in the House Library.

Pupils: Uniforms

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether he plans to discuss removing VAT on school uniforms for over 14-year-olds with the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Jim Knight: The Department has no plans to discuss removing VAT on school uniforms for over 14-year-olds with the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
	Current guidance on school uniform advises governing bodies to give high priority to cost when setting a school uniform policy, and states that no school uniform should be so expensive as to leave pupils or their families feeling socially excluded.

Schools: Admissions

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many admissions appeals were  (a) heard and  (b) successful for pupils in London in each year since 1997, broken down by local education authority.

Jim Knight: Data on heard and successful admissions appeals for all local education authorities in England, including those for London and covering the years 1997/98 to 2004/05 (the latest year for which data are available), have been placed in the House Library.

Schools: Appeals

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the process is for appealing decisions made by the Schools Adjudicator under the Education (New Secondary School Proposals) (England) (Amendment) Regulations; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The Education Acts do not provide for any appeals against a decision taken by the schools adjudicator. There is accordingly no scope for the Education (New Secondary School Proposals) (England) Regulations 2006 (as amended) to include an appeal process. The adjudicator's decision is final and can only be challenged by application to the high court for judicial review. Similarly, the Act provided that where a school organisation committee decided a competition, that decision could only be challenged by application to the High Court for judicial review.

Schools: Asbestos

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many school buildings in  (a) England,  (b) Greater London,  (c) the London Borough of Havering and  (d) Romford contain asbestos; and what steps are being taken (i) to remove the asbestos and (ii) to ensure the safety of students and staff.

Jim Knight: We do not keep information on which schools contain asbestos. However, the Health and Safety Executive advise that asbestos was commonly used in buildings constructed between 1945 and 1980. It is a requirement that the duty-holder as defined in the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations keeps records of the location and condition of asbestos in all its buildings. For local authority maintained schools, the local authority as the employer is the duty-holder. The duty-holder is responsible for the safe management of asbestos. Removal is not a requirement and where the location and condition of the asbestos permits, it is often safer to manage the asbestos in-situ. HSE has issued guidance on the safe management and control of asbestos in schools(1).
	(1) http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/schools.pdf

Schools: Standards

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools in each local authority area his Department considers to be  (a) low attaining and  (b) under-performing.

Jim Knight: There are several ways to define low attainment and underperformance in relation to schools. The House of Commons Education Select Committee report of December 2003 recommended that a distinction should be drawn between low absolute levels of attainment (for example, a performance benchmark such as 25 per cent. five A*-C grades at GCSE) and low performance, which generally involves a value added measure.
	Underperformance is particularly difficult to define with clarity. For example, by definition, 25 per cent. of all schools will appear in the bottom quartile of any performance measure, but the cohort of these schools will change year on year, so such schools are not necessarily persistent underperformers. Therefore, no schools have been formally classified as underperforming by DfES.
	For the purposes of this question, low attaining primary schools are defined as those at which fewer than 65 per cent. of 11-year-olds achieved the target level 4 of the national curriculum in both English and mathematics in 2006 and where performance has been below 65 per cent. in both subjects for the previous three years. 65 per cent. is the minimum level set in the Department's floor targets for primary schools.
	Low attaining secondary schools for the purpose of this question are defined as those in which less than 25 per cent. of 15-year-olds achieved five A*-C at GCSE or equivalent in 2006. 25 per cent. is the minimum level set in the Department's floor targets for secondary schools.
	All low attaining schools are subject to support programmes, particularly those provided by the primary and secondary national strategies. Although we have not classified the schools as underperforming we have funded a programme that identified secondary schools that were likely to benefit from the raising attainment in teaching and learning (RAIL) initiative to tackle underperformance. A total of 764 schools are included in RAIL.
	The national strategies are continuing to work with all local authorities in using comparative data to help identify underperforming primary schools and to support them in raising standards of literacy and numeracy through interventions such as the Intensifying Support programme.
	The following table gives the number of schools in each local authority based on the above criteria.
	
		
			  Local authority  Number of secondary schools in which less than 25% of pupils achieved 5 A*-C grades at GCSE or equivalent in 2006  Number of primary schools in which fewer than 65% of 11-year-olds achieved the target level 4 of the national curriculum in both English and mathematics in 2006 and where performance has been below 65% in both subjects for the previous 3 years  Number of secondary schools which have joined the RAIL programme designed to address potential under performance 
			 Barking and Dagenham — — 3 
			 Barnet — — — 
			 Barnsley — 3 7 
			 Bath and NE Somerset — — — 
			 Bedfordshire 1 — 4 
			 Bexley — 2 2 
			 Birmingham — 8 19 
			 Blackburn — 2 1 
			 Blackpool — — 2 
			 Bolton — — 5 
			 Bournemouth 1 1 4 
			 Bracknell Forest — — 3 
			 Bradford 2 13 6 
			 Brent — 1 — 
			 Brighton — 1 2 
			 Bristol 1 10 3 
			 Bromley — — 2 
			 Buckinghamshire — 3 9 
			 Bury — 1 7 
			 Calderdale 1 — 1 
			 Cambridgeshire 1 — 6 
			 Camden — 1 — 
			 Cheshire 1 4 12 
			 City of London — — — 
			 Cornwall — 1 4 
			 Coventry — 2 7 
			 Croydon — — 3 
			 Cumbria 2 1 15 
			 Darlington 1 — 3 
			 Derby 1 3 — 
			 Derbyshire — 1 7 
			 Devon 1 4 11 
			 Doncaster — 1 6 
			 Dorset — — 1 
			 Dudley — 1 2 
			 Durham — 1 15 
			 Ealing — — — 
			 East Riding — 1 10 
			 East Sussex — 3 5 
			 Enfield — 2 — 
			 Essex(1) 3 4 16 
			 Gateshead — — 1 
			 Gloucestershire 1 1 6 
			 Greenwich — 2 — 
			 Hackney — 4 — 
			 Halton — 4 3 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham — — — 
			 Hampshire 1 2 29 
			 Haringey — 4 1 
			 Harrow — — 1 
			 Hartlepool — — 1 
			 Havering — 1 3 
			 Herefordshire — — 4 
			 Hertfordshire 1 1 17 
			 Hillingdon — — 3 
			 Hounslow — — — 
			 Isle of Scilly — — — 
			 Isle of Wight — — — 
			 Islington — 2 — 
			 Kensington and Chelsea — — 1 
			 Kent 1 13 9 
			 Kingston upon Hull — — 5 
			 Kingston upon Thames — — — 
			 Kirklees 1 6 8 
			 Knowsley — 1 8 
			 Lambeth — 2 — 
			 Lancashire 1 9 15 
			 Leeds 1 5 18 
			 Leicester City — 9 3 
			 Leicestershire — 1 12 
			 Lewisham — 1 — 
			 Lincolnshire 1 1 18 
			 Liverpool — 5 4 
			 Luton 1 1 6 
			 Manchester 2 6 5 
			 Medway 2 1 2 
			 Merton — — — 
			 Middlesbrough — — 3 
			 Milton Keynes 1 4 1 
			 Newcastle — 5 3 
			 Newham — — 1 
			 Norfolk — 9 11 
			 North East Lincolnshire — — 3 
			 North Lincolnshire — 1 8 
			 North Somerset — — 6 
			 North Tyneside — — 4 
			 North Yorkshire 1 1 19 
			 Northamptonshire(1) 2 — 16 
			 Northumberland — — 3 
			 Nottingham City(1) 4 3 — 
			 Nottinghamshire — 6 13 
			 Oldham — 2 7 
			 Oxfordshire — 3 15 
			 Peterborough — 2 3 
			 Plymouth — 1 3 
			 Poole 1 — 1 
			 Portsmouth — 4 1 
			 Reading — 3 3 
			 Redbridge — — — 
			 Redcar and Cleveland — — 4 
			 Richmond upon Thames — — — 
			 Rochdale — 1 5 
			 Rotherham — 3 4 
			 Rutland — — 1 
			 Salford — 1 4 
			 Sandwell — 5 11 
			 Sefton — 2 12 
			 Sheffield 2 11 3 
			 Shropshire — — 6 
			 Slough — 2 1 
			 Solihull — — 4 
			 Somerset — 3 6 
			 South Gloucestershire — — 7 
			 South Tyneside — 2 3 
			 Southampton — 1 5 
			 Southend — — 1 
			 Southwark — 1 — 
			 St Helens — — 4 
			 Staffordshire 1 4 27 
			 Stockport — — 4 
			 Stockton-on-Tees(1) 2 1 2 
			 Stoke-on-Trent — 7 10 
			 Suffolk — 3 2 
			 Sunderland — 2 7 
			 Surrey 1 2 26 
			 Sutton — — 1 
			 Swindon 1 1 4 
			 Tameside 1 2 5 
			 Telford and Wrekin — 2 3 
			 Thurrock — 1 — 
			 Torbay — 1 1 
			 Tower Hamlets — — — 
			 Trafford — — 1 
			 Wakefield — 5 6 
			 Walsall 1 4 5 
			 Waltham Forest — 1 — 
			 Wandsworth — 1 — 
			 Warrington — 1 2 
			 Warwickshire —  11 
			 West Berkshire — 2 3 
			 West Sussex — — 14 
			 Westminster — — — 
			 Wigan — — 7 
			 Wiltshire — 2 9 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead — — 5 
			 Wirral — 3 1 
			 Wokingham — — 3 
			 Wolverhampton — 2 7 
			 Worcestershire — 1 5 
			 York — 1 3 
			 Total 47 282 784 
			 (1) Includes one school with fewer than 10 pupils aged 15

Secondary Schools

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what changes have been made to the statistical basis for recording absences from secondary schools.

Jim Knight: holding answer 23 March 2007
	The absence data collection from secondary schools has changed from being an annual school level collection to a termly pupil level collection.
	Statisticians within the Department believe that the collection of pupil level data will improve data quality and enhance the analysis we are able to conduct.
	This new collection is the first opportunity to report nationally on the relationship between absence and pupil characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, special educational needs—and to highlight the concentrations of persistent absentees missing a fifth or more of lessons.

Social Workers

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many social workers in England are registered with the General Social Care Council.

Ivan Lewis: I have been asked to reply.
	On 1 May 2007 there were 76,894 social workers registered in England with the General Social Care Council.

Special Educational Needs

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many statements of individual children's special needs were compiled by local education authorities in 2006; how many recommended funding towards education at a special needs school; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the statement assessment system.

Parmjit Dhanda: 22,600 new statements were issued for children with special educational needs in 2006.
	Statements set out details of children's special educational needs, the provision to meet those needs and the school the child should attend. Once a statement is finalised local authorities are under a duty to arrange the specified provision. Of the new statements issued in 2006, 5,330 were for children placed in special schools. 4,870 children were placed in maintained special schools (including foundation schools); 110 were placed in non-maintained special schools; and 360 were placed in independent special schools. (Figures are taken from the SEN 2 Survey 2007 and are provisional.)
	The Department's team of SEN advisers following visits to all 150 local authorities, report proactive dialogue with parents on statutory assessment matters. Excluding cases where it was impractical to comply with timescales, 95 per cent. of draft statements were produced in the 18 week statutory timescale in 2006.
	The outcomes achieved by vulnerable groups of learners, including many children with SEN, are improving, for example, the proportion of children with SEN (with and without statements) achieving 5 A* to C grades at GCSE continues to rise.
	Ofsted's survey "Inclusion: does it matter where pupils are taught?" (July 2006) also reported significant improvements in SEN provision since the publication of their previous survey in 2004.

Teaching Methods

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of  (a) mathematics,  (b) English,  (c) science and  (d) all lessons (excluding PE lessons) inspected by Ofsted were recorded as (i) setted and (ii) banded in years (A) 7, (B) 8, (C) 9, (D) 10, (E) 11 and (F) overall in each year since 2002.

Jim Knight: This is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply has been placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 27 April 2007:
	Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for reply.
	You asked what proportion of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) science and (d) all lessons (excluding PE lessons) inspected by Ofsted were recorded as (i) setted and (ii) banded in years (A) 7, (B) 8, (C) 9, (D) 10, (E) 11 and (F) overall in each year.
	The tables attached show the percentage of lessons which were setted by ability, seen by inspectors during the academic years 1996/97 to 2002/03. Prior to 1996/97 inspectors were not required to record information about grouping and from 2002/03 records do not distinguish between setting and banding. Please note that the percentages do not add up to 100% as the data here do not include other categories that are counted. For example, groups formed by age and mixed ability have not been accounted for.
	A copy of this reply has been sent to Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools, and will be placed in the Library of both Houses.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Antisocial Behaviour

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the funding given to participating local authorities will be  (a) ring fenced and  (b) via reimbursement for specific expenditure, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 28 February 2007,  Official  Report, column 1351W, on anti-social behaviour.

Parmjit Dhanda: I have been asked to reply.
	This question refers to the Department for Education and Skills grant of up to £125,000, that can be accessed by 40 Respect areas and seven London boroughs. The purpose of the grant is to help improve and strengthen the delivery of parenting support in those areas, especially around the prevention and tackling of antisocial behaviour. The funding to these local authorities is non ring-fenced.

Antisocial Behaviour

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will seek legal advice on the compatibility of the ultrasonic antisocial behaviour deterrent device with  (a) Article 3 and  (b) Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will require police forces to notify him of their purchase of ultrasonic antisocial behaviour deterrent devices;
	(3)  if he will issue guidelines to police forces on the use of the ultrasonic antisocial behaviour deterrent device Mosquito.

Tony McNulty: The Home Office encourages local agencies to consider the full range of innovations, schemes and practices intended to reduce crime, the fear of crime and antisocial behaviour. It is for local agencies like the police and local authorities to decide on the most appropriate interventions to tackle antisocial behaviour based on their knowledge of what works best locally. We do encourage agencies to adopt a tiered approach with a blend of measures to provide a proportionate response. The Home Office does not promote or recommend any particular commercial product or venture above this, and as such has not sought legal advice on this device.
	The Home Office has not produced guidance for police and local authorities on the use of the mosquito device, and has no plans to require the police to notify the Secretary of State if and when such a device is purchased.

Antisocial Behaviour

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what circumstances criminal antisocial behaviour orders are issued; in what ways they are different from antisocial behavioural orders; and what assessment he has made of the impact of each type of order on changing behaviour in young people.

Tony McNulty: Antisocial behaviour orders on conviction were introduced by the Police Reform Act 2002 to allow the courts to deal with the antisocial behaviour of a convicted individual in an effective and timely manner by removing the need for a separate application to be made on complaint to the magistrates court. The order is in addition to the criminal sentence and is considered separately from the criminal part of the proceedings.
	An order on conviction has the same effect as an antisocial behaviour order and lasts a minimum of two years. Breach of the terms of the order is a criminal offence, whether the order was obtained on conviction or by way of a stand alone application.
	The effectiveness of the Government's antisocial behaviour policies has been assessed in two key independent reports published last year, by the National Audit Office and by the Youth Justice Board. Both confirmed that our twin track approach of support and enforcement is effective in protecting communities from antisocial behaviour. This is bringing results—nationally, the percentage of people who perceive high levels of antisocial behaviour has fallen from 21 per cent. in 2002-03 to 17 per cent. in 2005-06.
	We are due to commission an evaluation of various interventions (including ASBOs) designed to tackle antisocial behaviour. This proposed research is likely to explore what impact these interventions can have on tackling antisocial behaviour problems.

Arrests

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) arrests have been made and  (b) charges have been brought by the police since 1997; and how many convictions arose from such charges, broken down by (i) category of offence and (ii) police authority.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 19 March 2007
	 Information is not collected centrally on how cases progress from arrest to prosecution or otherwise. Data collected by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform (OCJR) on arrests are collected separately from data on prosecutions and their outcome. Data on numbers charged are not collected by either OCJR or the Home Office.
	The available data by notifiable offence group are given in tables A1 to A10 for arrests and B1 to B9 for convictions respectively. Arrests data for years prior to 1999-2000 are not available while the data for 2005-06 on both arrests and convictions will be available later this year.
	Care should be taken in interpreting the tables not least because the main offence for which a person is arrested may be different from the one which resulted in a conviction. Also people arrested within a given year will not necessarily have been convicted in the same year.
	
		
			  Table A1: Number of persons arrested for recorded crime (notifiable offences) within the offence group "violence against the person" by pol ice force area, 1999-20 00 to 2004-05 
			  Number 
			  Police force area  1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05 
			 Avon and Somerset 3,327 4,325 4,304 4,458 5,060 7,056 
			 Bedfordshire (1)3,390 (1)2,470 (1)2,405 (1)3,540 4,440 5,420 
			 Cambridgeshire 2,311 2,353 2,316 2,239 2,574 3,626 
			 Cheshire 4,138 3,794 3,536 3,676 (1)3,335 5,935 
			 City of London n/a n/a 357 451 405 635 
			 Cleveland 2,949 n/a 3,210 2,918 3,809 4,893 
			 Cumbria 2,369 2,208 2,325 2,743 2,951 4,348 
			 Derbyshire 5,277 4,917 5,082 6,580 7,610 9,478 
			 Devon and Cornwall 6,289 6,480 7,315 8,958 9,340 (2)10,860 
			 Dorset 1,935 1,869 2,265 2,122 2,558 3,804 
			 Durham n/a n/a n/a n/a 3,640 4,127 
			 Essex 5,425 6,597 7,162 7,117 8,274 (3)9,220 
			 Gloucestershire 2,058 1,963 2,093 2,498 2,707 3,663 
			 Greater Manchester 11,782 11,124 10,536 11,215 14,593 19,020 
			 Hampshire 9,002 8,254 7,914 8,422 11,100 13,376 
			 Hertfordshire 3,187 3,250 3,366 3,598 4,583 7,576 
			 Humberside n/a 4,209 4,295 4,304 4,421 4,998 
			 Kent 6,912 6,128 6,431 7,183 8,549 9,235 
			 Lancashire 8,511 9,153 10,859 10,518 14,284 18,908 
			 Leicestershire 3,044 3,007 3,219 3,173 3,210 4,361 
			 Lincolnshire n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Merseyside 9,620 10,417 9,808 11,494 15,139 12,804 
			 Metropolitan Police 35,365 32,395 31,691 34,348 36,850 (2)44,248 
			 Norfolk 4,059 4,141 4,063 3,987 4,328 5,321 
			 North Yorkshire 5,112 4,823 5,038 6,304 7,563 (2)5,144 
			 Northamptonshire 2,813 2,492 2,455 2,744 3,024 3,849 
			 Northumbria 9,045 8,564 9,377 10,447 11,589 (2)14,630 
			 Nottinghamshire 8,532 8,367 8,624 7,766 8,850 9,108 
			 South Yorkshire 6,078 6,525 6,544 7,465 8,580 10,791 
			 Staffordshire n/a n/a n/a n/a 8,140 9,365 
			 Suffolk 2,279 2,578 2,628 3,026 3,588 4,285 
			 Surrey 2,966 3,826 3,504 4,559 5,504 6,070 
			 Sussex 965 4,749 (4)5,279 5,475 9,337 10,731 
			 Thames Valley 7,824 7,992 7,910 8,814 9,995 15,293 
			 Warwickshire 1,260 1,280 1,640 1,788 2,266 2,485 
			 West Mercia 4,737 4,047 4,802 5,294 6,754 8,114 
			 West Midlands n/a n/a n/a (1)23,053 24,848 23,962 
			 West Yorkshire 12,193 15,420 12,362 14,971 17,408 20,606 
			 Wiltshire 2,357 2,422 2,482 2,440 2,364 2,229 
			 Dyfed Powys n/a 2,332 2,672 3,127 3,635 3,512 
			 Gwent n/a n/a n/a 2,905 3,654 4,982 
			 North Wales 2,907 2,738 2,705 3,596 5,578 6,591 
			 South Wales 1,472 7,613 8,773 9,808 10,353 11,653 
			
			 England and Wales (5)255,500 (5)259,500 (5)259,400 (5)284,000 (5)332,100 (5)395,800 
			 n/a = not available (1) Revised since initial publication with HOSB. (2) Revised since publication of annual HOSB. DATA as issued in HO S95 publication "Statistics on Race & cjs, 2005". (3) Excludes divisions on NSPIS Custody (Rayleigh, Southend and partly Basildon). (4) Covers a period of 46 weeks only—six weeks data were lost due to IT problems within the October/December quarter 2001. (5) Estimate.  Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when these data are used. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table B1: The number of persons found guilty at all courts after being arrested and charged by the police( 1)  for violence against the person offences in England and Wales, by financial year 1997-98 to 2004-05( 2,3,4,5,6) 
			  Police force area  1997-98  1998-99  1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05 
			 Avon and Somerset 1,758 3,569 3,932 4,109 3,981 4,202 4,777 5,067 
			 Bedfordshire 744 1,614 1,527 1,504 1,388 1,505 1,820 2,078 
			 Cambridgeshire 540 1,401 1,490 1,596 1,615 1,918 1,796 2,116 
			 Cheshire 1,971 4,172 4,050 4,038 3,429 3,702 3,725 3,424 
			 Cleveland 1,123 2,007 1,898 1,682 1,834 2,043 2,445 2,874 
			 Cumbria 1,359 2,922 2,755 2,283 2,257 2,228 2,453 2,753 
			 Derbyshire 1,802 3,567 3,641 3,488 3,525 3,845 4,377 4,739 
			 Devon and Cornwall 2,185 4,407 4,586 4,673 4,628 5,481 5,587 5,760 
			 Dorset 515 1,283 1,372 1,413 1,314 1,519 1,647 2,267 
			 Durham 1,386 3,115 3,700 3,381 3,447 3,272 3,131 2,449 
			 Essex 2,200 4,554 4,424 4,256 4,343 4,518 4,932 6,131 
			 Gloucestershire 718 1,510 1,762 1,846 1,917 1,945 1,873 1,923 
			 Greater Manchester 5,882 13,185 14,071 14,250 13,374 13,380 14,379 17,259 
			 Hampshire 2,674 6,559 7,449 7,237 7,038 7,450 8,183 9,124 
			 Hertfordshire 909 1,911 2,068 2,034 2,079 2,348 2,710 3,162 
			 Humberside 1,882 4,043 4,070 3,968 3,448 3,937 4,721 4,583 
			 Kent 2,353 5,525 5,351 4,847 4,404 4,363 5,006 5,002 
			 Lancashire 4,126 8,308 7,140 6,707 7,039 7,214 7,358 7,138 
			 Leicestershire 1,892 3,700 3,937 3,867 4,161 5,001 5,029 4,691 
			 Lincolnshire 1,132 2,212 2,255 1,937 2,070 2,376 2,591 2,802 
			 London, City of 100 115 202 163 182 260 252 243 
			 Merseyside 2,592 5,150 4,618 4,980 5,419 5,837 7,486 7,833 
			 Metropolitan Police 11,790 23,838 22,367 21,643 21,985 25,618 26,078 27,670 
			 Norfolk 1,509 3,254 3,064 2,010 2,701 2,682 3,066 2,963 
			 Northamptonshire 897 1,949 2,093 1,792 1,591 1,772 1,906 2,099 
			 Northumbria 3,122 6,959 7,510 6,776 6,584 6,543 7,019 7,124 
			 North Yorkshire 1,711 3,228 3,516 3,274 3,134 3,181 3,568 3,910 
			 Nottinghamshire 2,623 5,105 5,292 5,448 4,765 4,568 4,977 4,813 
			 South Yorkshire 2,320 4,307 4,231 4,505 4,633 4,807 5,295 5,753 
			 Staffordshire 1,718 3,527 3,062 2,532 1,538 2,754 2,659 3,036 
			 Suffolk 849 1,633 1,797 1,707 1,679 1,674 1,677 2,405 
			 Surrey 921 1,657 1,447 1.270 1,345 1,369 1,806 2,445 
			 Sussex 1,685 3,450 3,300 3,486 4,034 4,535 4,593 5,000 
			 Thames Valley 2,165 4,618 4,631 4,678 4,641 4,965 5,228 5,237 
			 Warwickshire 796 1,496 1,105 1,048 1,197 1,251 1,196 1,291 
			 West Mercia 1,771 3,448 3,486 3,252 3,770 3,765 4,344 4,867 
			 West Midlands 5,038 11,254 12,485 13,909 16,120 17,116 16,682 16,979 
			 West Yorkshire 3,382 7,776 8,756 8,076 6,922 7,307 9,087 12,422 
			 Wiltshire 749 1,757 1,828 1,711 1,901 2,009 2,241 2,201 
			 Dyfed Powys 1,180 2,863 3,254 2,809 2,497 2.529 2,661 2,239 
			 Gwent 1,876 3,754 4,072 4,010 3,355 3,354 2,950 3,015 
			 North Wales 1,489 3,118 2,810 2,722 2,661 2,891 3,084 3,467 
			 South Wales 3,504 7,181 7,617 7,355 7,552 8,481 8,673 8,941 
			  
			 England and Wales 90,938 191,001 194,021 188,272 187,497 201,515 215,068 231,295 
			 (1) All convictions in the Crown court are included (those arrested and charged by the police cannot be distinguished separately although they will make up the vast majority of people tried in the Crown court). (2) These data are on the principal offence basis. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (4) Staffordshire police force were only able to supply a sample of data for magistrates courts proceedings covering one full week in each quarter for 2000. Estimates based on this sample are included in the figures, as they are considered sufficiently robust at this high level of analysis. (5) These data are for those persons proceeded against at magistrates courts that have resulted in a conviction for a recorded crime. (6) Includes all indictable offences within the violence against the person offence group as well as recordable summary violence against the person offence group  Source: RDS Office for Criminal Justice Reform

Asylum

George Mudie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the date of application was of each claim for an extension of discretionary leave decided in the week beginning  (a) 23 October 2006,  (b) 30 October 2006,  (c) 6 November 2006,  (d) 13 November 2006,  (e) 20 November 2006, (f) 27 November 2006,  (g) 4 December 2006, (h) 11 December 2006 and  (i) 18 December 2006.

Liam Byrne: The information requested cannot be provided except by examining individual case records at disproportionate cost.

Asylum: Finance

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what support is provided to failed asylum seekers.

Liam Byrne: Families with children in their household when their asylum claims are finally determined continue to be eligible for asylum support under section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 until they leave the UK or the youngest child reaches 18.
	Support under section four of the 1999 Act is available for failed asylum seekers who have a temporary barrier to removal and who meet the eligibility criteria. Those supported are provided with accommodation and vouchers or supermarket payment cards to purchase food and essential toiletries. This is a limited form of support to meet essential needs as failed asylum seekers are expected to leave the UK.
	Some failed asylum seekers may be entitled to support from a local authority under section 21 of the National Assistance Act 1948.

Crime: Statistics

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to issue a public response to the recommendations put forward in the Smith Review of crime statistics; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 24 April 2007
	Recommendations from the Smith Review are being considered by the Crime Statistics Development Programme Board (CSDPB) which was established in January 2007. The CSDPB comprises representatives from the Home Office, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), the Association of Police Authorities (APA), the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) and the Royal Statistical Society (RSS).
	The Home Office plans to issue a formal response to the Smith Review when the annual statistical bulletin on crime in England and Wales is published on 19 July 2007.

Departments: Departmental Reorganisation

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department's office space on 2 Marsham Street will be shared with the Ministry of Justice.

Liam Byrne: It is intended that a small number of staff will move to Selborne House on 9 May. However the overwhelming majority of staff transferring to the Ministry of Justice and presently housed in 2 Marsham Street will remain there after 9 May.

Departments: Olympic Games

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his Department's first estimate was of the total contribution to be made from his departmental budget towards the costs of hosting the Olympic Games; and what his Department's latest estimate is of that cost.

Liam Byrne: We are in discussion with the Metropolitan Police Service and other relevant Departments and agencies about the costs of ensuring a safe and secure Olympic Games. We have provided the Metropolitan Police Service and other affected police forces with up to £4.6 million in 2007-08 to enable planning and preparation. Once firm proposals and costings are available, they will be evaluated by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary before being considered by the Home Secretary. We will inform Parliament of the outcome of this process when it has concluded.

Departments: Oral Questions

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many questions tabled by hon. and right hon. Members to his Department for oral answer have been transferred to other departments since May 2005.

Tony McNulty: Since the start of this parliamentary Session the Home Office has transferred a total of three oral questions to other Departments. Details of oral questions transferred since May 2005 are not held centrally.

Deportation

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is considering deportation proceedings in the case of  (a) Antonio Mia and  (b) Shpetim Bujaj.

Liam Byrne: I am not able to comment on individual cases within the House.

Deportation

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many allegations of assault have been made against deportation escorts in each of the last five years; and what the result has been of police investigations of allegations.

Liam Byrne: We do not differentiate between escorts involving detainees who are subject to a deportation order and those who are subject to administrative removal. The figures given therefore cover all immigration escorts for the given periods. The figures for 2002 are not readily available and provision of these figures would be at disproportionate cost.
	In the following years the figures are as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2003-04 27 
			 2004-05 79 
			 2005-06 72 
			 2006-07 44 
		
	
	All of the assault allegations received by the Border and Immigration Agency were reported to the police. None of the police investigations has resulted in charges against the escorts.

East Midlands Special Operations Unit

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will continue to provide funding for the East Midlands Special Operations Unit.

Tony McNulty: Following a similar amount in 2006-07, we are planning to make £8 million available in 2007-08 to help tackle the police's response to level two crime. Recommendations on the allocation of the money will be a matter for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).

Entry Clearances

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department plans to decide whether to grant entry clearance to Iram Aziz Awan (reference 1070351).

Kim Howells: I have been asked to reply.
	Ms Awan applied for entry clearance to the UK on 23 August 2005. Her application was refused with a right of appeal on 24 August 2005. According to records held at the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT), an appeal was received on 31 October 2005; however, this was outside the 28-day time limit from the date of refusal and was therefore dismissed by the AIT on 31 January 2006. We now consider this application to be closed.

Immigration Controls

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of applications for indefinite leave to remain were decided within  (a) three weeks and  (b) 13 weeks in 2006-07.

Liam Byrne: Information in this format is not kept by the Border and Immigration Agency and could be obtained by examination of individual records only at disproportionate cost.

Immigration Controls

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time taken to process an application for further leave to remain from an applicant who had overstayed on a visa was in the most recent period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: The requested information is not available and could only be obtained by examination of individual records at disproportionate cost.

Immigration Controls

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking following the publication of his Department's Review of Home Office Publications of Control of Immigration Statistics.

Liam Byrne: The implementation plan for the National Statistics Quality Review on Command Paper "Control of Immigration Statistics: United Kingdom" publications report was published on the Office for National Statistics and Home Office websites on 16 January 2007 on the following links:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/data/methodology/quality/reviews/population.asp; and
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/cpreview07.pdf

Immigration Controls

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions his Department has had with representatives of foreign governments on the implications of the proposed new points-based immigration system.

Liam Byrne: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Home Office have held two events for the London based diplomatic community to brief them on the points-based immigration system. A Migration Workshop was held on 29 September 2005 and a Migration Seminar took place on 24 March 2006. The foreign press based in London were briefed by Lord Triesman and my hon. Friend the Minister for Policing, Security and Community Safety on 7 March 2006.

Immigration Controls

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to implement the new points-based immigration system retrospectively.

Liam Byrne: The points-based system (PBS) will not be introduced retrospectively. Anyone who is granted permission to come to, or stay in, the UK under the system that exists now will keep that permission when the PBS is introduced.
	Anyone applying for further permission to stay here after the introduction of PBS will need to meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules as they are at the time he makes that application. This means that a migrant who came here under a category of the Immigration Rules that has since become part of the PBS will need to meet the PBS requirements in order to stay here when his initial permission runs out.
	This is the approach that we have always taken to applications under the Immigration Rules.

Immigration Controls

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of immigration systems used in other countries.

Liam Byrne: We always look to learn from our international partners and meet regularly with them to share best practice. During the design of the points based system for managed migration, we examined how points based systems operated in other countries.
	BIA officials regularly meet international partners. We are involved in the General Directors Immigration Services Conference (GDISC), a network of directors of immigration services across Europe and also the Four Countries Conference which includes Australia, Canada and the USA.

Immigration Controls

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the likely impact of the new points-based immigration system on the  (a) lower-skilled and  (b) unskilled job sectors.

Liam Byrne: Tier three of the points based system will provide for the introduction of quota-based schemes to meet labour shortages at low skill levels if these are needed. It will be for the Migration Advisory Committee to make an assessment of whether such schemes will in the future be needed to meet labour needs in any particular sector. Such schemes will not be introduced while restrictions on Bulgarian and Romanian nationals' access to low skilled employment in the United Kingdom remain in force.

Immigration and Nationality Directorate: Correspondence

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many letters from hon. Members, Peers and members of the devolved assemblies were received by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in each year from 2003 to 2006.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 30 April 2007
	The Border and Immigration Agency received 26,577 such letters in 2003, 38,015 letters in 2004, 41,086 letters in 2005 and 41,534 in 2006

Immigration: EU Enlargement

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  whether he plans to provide specific information for Scottish local authorities to clarify their duties for homeless EU2 migrants;
	(2)  whether he plans to make available to local authorities in  (a) England,  (b) Scotland,  (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland information regarding their duties towards EU2 migrants;
	(3)  what steps are being taken to clarify to local authorities the entitlement of EU2 migrants for local authority services, including housing and social services and homelessness assistance, across the UK.

Liam Byrne: Local authorities' responsibilities towards Bulgarian and Romanian nationals are similar to those for other EEA nationals, except with regard to employment, where restrictions have been maintained. Guidance on the rights and responsibilities with respect to work and employment is available on the IND website:
	http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk.
	The Scottish Executive has issued a statutory code of guidance to local authorities on EU nationals' eligibility for homelessness assistance in Scotland. This guidance can be accessed via the Scotland Executive website:
	http://www.scotland.gov.uk/publications/2005.
	The Home Office has not received any requests from local authorities with respect to the employment of Bulgarian and Romanian nationals. Guidance on eligibility for homelessness assistance is available from the Department for Communities and Local Government (which applies to England) and the Scottish Executive. Guidance on entitlement to benefits is available from the Department for Work and Pensions.
	The Department for Communities and Local Government is working with the Improvement and Development Agency to share good practice on migration from the EU. A national event was held for local authorities in England on 21 March and a good practice toolkit will be issued in May 2007.

Immigration: Northern Ireland

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were granted leave to remain in Northern Ireland in the last 12 months.

Liam Byrne: There were 810 people(1) who were granted leave to remain in Northern Ireland between 1 April 2006 and 31 March 2007.
	(1) The aforementioned data is not provided under the National Statistics protocols. It shows volumes of applicants granted leave to remain decisions (regardless of application type) made within General Group in Managed Migration. It has been derived from local management information and is therefore provisional and subject to change.

Immigration: Telephone Services

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 24 April 2007,  Official Report, column 1058W, on immigration: telephone services, how many calls were received by the Border and Immigration Agency MPs' hotline in each year from 2003 to 2006.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 30 April 2007
	From 1 June 2003 to 31 December 2003 the Border and Immigration Agency MPs' hotline received 15,728 telephone calls; in 2004 it received 31,393 calls; in 2005 it received 34,338 calls and in 2006 it received 31,749 calls from Members of Parliament, the House of Lords and Members of the devolved Assemblies.
	Statistical information is only available from 1 June 2003 onwards.

Naturalisation: Assessments

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who were awarded passes in the Life in the UK citizenship test subsequently had that pass revoked in each month since November 2005.

Liam Byrne: Appropriate action will be taken where concerns remain about an applicant's knowledge of English or UK society. This will apply if they seek settlement or citizenship or even after such a status has been granted to them.
	The precise action to be taken will depend on the circumstances of an individual case but might include requiring a further test or an independent analysis of their language ability. The Government take very seriously any attempts to circumvent the legal requirements for settlement and citizenship, for example by taking part in fraudulent activity in order to obtain a pass certificate for the test. Ultimately revocation of, or refusal to grant settlement or citizenship may be appropriate in some cases.

Passports

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is on compensation for time remaining on the validity of an existing passport where a person seeks a new passport to take account of a name change following marriage.

Joan Ryan: No compensation is currently paid for time remaining on a passport which is replaced before expiry for any reason, although up to nine months unused validity is transferred to the new passport. The Identity and Passport Service has to recover all its costs through fees and a replacement passport costs as much to issue as a passport renewed on expiry. The possibility of a reduction in fees in these circumstances will be considered with HM Treasury when passport fees are next reviewed.

Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which police staff associations were consulted in advance of the announcement to review the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 April 2007
	No police staff associations were consulted in advance of the announcement to review PACE 1984.
	When the consultation paper was published it was formally sent to all police staff associations groups (ACPO, the Police Federation, the Police Superintendents Association and Unison) along with a notification that officials would contact them in due course to arrange bilateral meetings before the formal consultation period closes (at the end of May).

Police Cautions

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been given conditional cautions by the police since 1997; and what percentage went on to re-offend.

Tony McNulty: The conditional cautioning scheme, introduced in the Criminal Justice Act 2003, is in the process of being implemented across criminal justice areas on a phased basis, and is not currently available across all areas. The central collection of numbers of conditional cautions administered began on one January 2005, but the data quality in its first year was deemed not to be adequate for any figures to be released. Totals for 2006 will not be available until November this year.

Police: Crimes of Violence

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures his Department is considering introducing to reduce the levels of recorded assaults against  (a) police officers and  (b) police community support officers.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 20 April 2007
	There have been several recent developments which seek to reduce the levels of recorded assaults against police officers and police community support officers.
	Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary following collaboration with key stakeholders has recently published a review of officer safety training entitled "Safety matters". This report contains recommendations to assist in the reduction of injuries and is now available for forces to consider and apply. The Health and Safety Executive has been fully consulted and collaborated with HMIC on the development of this paper and supports the report.
	In addition the National Health and Safety Standing Committee recently agreed a joint report on benchmarking standards a "Strategy For a Healthy Police Service" which has been approved by ACPO council, and its implementation is being supported by the National Policing Improvement Agency.
	This sets standards on issues affecting individual health and safety including personal safety training. Each of the major principles will be developed through the ACPO Joint Advisory group on Health, Safety and Welfare. Again there was full consultation with the HSE with regard to this document.
	Also a Fitness Sub Group of the National Recruitment Standards—a standing committee of the Police Advisory Board—has been established. Emanating from this will be further research on this topic.

Police: Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of whether the resources available to the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis are adequate for the purpose of enforcing the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 April 2007
	The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis is responsible for the day to day operational management of the force.

Police: Manpower

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the ratio of police to public was in  (a) Suffolk,  (b) Bedfordshire,  (c) Cambridgeshire,  (d) Essex,  (e) Hertfordshire and  (f) Norfolk in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many police officers per 100,000 residents there were in each police authority in England in each year since 1997.

Tony McNulty: The available data are given in the table. The relationship between the number of police officers and the number of members of the public are published in the form of "Total officers per 100,000 population" and these data have been provided.
	Police strength data are published annually in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin series "Police Service Strength, England and Wales". The latest publication (data as at 31 March 2006) can be downloaded from:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/hosb1306.pdf
	
		
			  Police officers (FTE)( 1)  per 100,000 population( 2)  by English police force( 3)  as at 31 March 1997 to 2006 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Avon and Somerset 204 203 203 197 197 205 213 229 225 226 
			 Bedfordshire 200 197 189 185 184 189 198 210 215 213 
			 Cambridgeshire 188 184 179 172 179 187 196 197 194 196 
			 Cheshire 209 208 211 204 204 209 217 224 223 223 
			 Cleveland 261 266 255 252 253 263 294 314 305 308 
			 Cumbria 233 237 229 220 213 224 237 254 257 256 
			 Derbyshire 187 184 182 183 187 189 210 216 213 212 
			 Devon and Cornwall 186 192 186 182 187 192 204 208 212 219 
			 Dorset 189 192 186 189 196 198 205 209 211 216 
			 Durham 240 249 258 256 263 266 281 288 293 288 
			 Essex 197 193 190 183 178 181 186 192 198 203 
			 Gloucestershire 205 198 197 200 209 209 219 229 230 228 
			 Greater Manchester 268 270 265 264 268 279 298 323 321 318 
			 Hampshire 198 199 197 193 193 195 208 211 212 211 
			 Hertfordshire 205 202 198 201 184 174 191 204 206 208 
			 Humberside 230 228 223 219 217 234 244 256 255 251 
			 Kent 210 209 204 203 209 210 221 228 227 227 
			 Lancashire 228 229 228 223 228 231 239 252 251 253 
			 Leicestershire 211 214 215 215 218 224 232 246 246 241 
			 Lincolnshire 196 193 184 179 191 189 191 189 185 183 
			 London, City of * * * * * * * * * * 
			 Merseyside 296 297 298 290 291 294 302 303 318 315 
			 Metropolitan Police 367 356 352 341 351 366 404 420 433 417 
			 Norfolk 185 184 176 175 178 183 189 190 192 193 
			 Northamptonshire 196 193 186 181 186 194 194 198 201 207 
			 Northumbria 256 263 269 266 272 278 290 294 294 291 
			 North Yorkshire 183 186 181 173 175 188 193 203 206 216 
			 Nottinghamshire 225 225 216 214 214 226 239 245 245 243 
			 South Yorkshire 242 244 243 243 245 246 252 261 260 259 
			 Staffordshire 209 217 211 204 201 201 212 218 220 219 
			 Suffolk 180 179 179 171 168 177 188 196 195 191 
			 Surrey 209 207 212 227 192 184 182 183 184 184 
			 Sussex 211 203 191 188 188 190 203 206 205 207 
			 Thames Valley 180 183 180 178 175 177 186 195 198 202 
			 Warwickshire 186 185 180 178 182 190 198 197 195 198 
			 West Mercia 183 180 180 166 171 176 196 202 203 202 
			 West Midlands 270 271 278 274 283 293 307 311 316 318 
			 West Yorkshire 247 244 236 228 228 230 242 254 271 270 
			 Wiltshire 195 195 192 185 184 189 190 198 198 196 
			 (1) Full-time equivalent figures are rounded to the nearest whole number. Figures up to 31 March 2002 'exclude' staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. The figures for 31 March 2003 onwards 'include' those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. (2) Officers per 100,000 population for city of London and Metropolitan police are combined. (3) Boundary changes on 1 April 2000 transferred some resources from the Metropolitan police to Essex, Hertfordshire and Surrey police forces.

Public Order Offences

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many penalty notices for disorder were issued in 2006, broken down by  (a) police force and  (b) offence committed;
	(2)  how many penalty notices for disorder issued in 2006 were paid within 21 days of issue.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 19 April 2007
	Provisional data from the Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs) Database showing the number of PNDs issued, broken down by offence and police force area, are provided in the tables.
	The figures show that the PND has been an increasingly useful disposal option for the police in tackling low-level antisocial behaviour, providing them with a simple, non-bureaucratic financial punishment. The figures also show a wide variation in the numbers of PNDs issued for the same offence from force to force. This reflects the fact that the extent to which PNDs are used is a matter for individual forces according to their local operational factors and requirements.
	Of the 192,583 PNDs issued in 2006, 74,182 penalties were paid within the 21-day suspended enforcement period (SEP) with a further 26,068 being outside the SEP. 21 days is the minimum period before forces can register a fine against the recipient for not responding to a notice, so forces can accept payments after the SEP for administrative purposes.
	Finalised data for 2006 will be available this summer.
	
		
			  Number of penalty notices for disorder issued to offenders aged 16 and over by offence and police force area, England and Wales 2006 provisional data( 1) 
			  Police force area  Total all offences  Total higher tier offences  DA01  Wasting police time  DA02  Misuse of public telecoms system  DA03  Giving false alarm to fire and rescue authority  DA04  Causing harassment, alarm or distress 
			 Avon and Somerset 3,876 3,768 76 27 2 1,648 
			 Bedfordshire 1,602 1,571 8 3 0 618 
			 Cambridgeshire 1,346 1,260 21 1 0 429 
			 Cheshire 2,265 2,256 16 4 1 1,225 
			 Cleveland 3,552 3,538 40 9 0 2,015 
			 Cumbria 1,677 1,625 15 5 2 410 
			 Derbyshire 2,537 2,461 66 28 4 616 
			 Devon and Cornwall 6,976 6,685 92 78 8 1,756 
			 Dorset 2,262 2,171 40 3 2 1,241 
			 Durham 1,583 1,559 24 3 2 832 
			 Essex 4,357 4,273 63 22 0 1,998 
			 Gloucestershire 2,654 2,608 78 23 1 1,215 
			 Greater Manchester 10,532 10,437 334 24 15 6,804 
			 Hampshire 4,365 4,258 82 71 2 2,582 
			 Hertfordshire 5,312 5,191 82 86 2 2,628 
			 Humberside 5,385 5,321 75 22 2 2,256 
			 Kent 6,889 6,708 64 34 4 1,204 
			 Lancashire 12,401 12,097 251 53 12 3,004 
			 Leicestershire 2,376 2,337 80 3 2 1,398 
			 Lincolnshire 1,930 1,917 25 16 0 1,213 
			 London, City of 305 301 0 0 0 84 
			 Merseyside 11,269 11,022 183 29 4 3,481 
			 Metropolitan 20,171 18,914 467 31 0 9,652 
			 Norfolk 1,323 1,294 9 0 1 806 
			 North Yorkshire 2,367 2,214 9 1 0 631 
			 Northamptonshire 2,498 2,459 48 8 0 829 
			 Northumbria 6,307 6,232 52 16 3 1,145 
			 Nottinghamshire 2,205 2,164 45 5 2 1,060 
			 South Yorkshire 5,989 5,824 111 19 8 2,263 
			 Staffordshire 3,209 3,056 54 6 3 1,851 
			 Suffolk 1,460 1,427 22 11 0 648 
			 Surrey 2,819 2,634 30 14 0 1,441 
			 Sussex 5,023 4,846 45 25 1 1,577 
			 Thames Valley 6,676 6,598 86 10 3 4,792 
			 Warwickshire 1,016 997 24 4 2 511 
			 West Mercia 3,433 3,359 82 29 2 1,109 
			 West Midlands 7,925 7,714 367 13 9 2,731 
			 West Yorkshire 8,866 8,735 312 52 2 2,466 
			 Wiltshire 1,224 1,138 11 2 0 714 
			 Dyfed Powys 1,353 1,252 28 4 0 571 
			 Gwent 1,908 1,862 49 9 0 610 
			 North Wales 6,049 5,851 139 29 0 2,625 
			 South Wales 5,311 5,188 47 7 0 1,913 
			 England and Wales 192,583 187,122 3,752 839 101 78,602 
		
	
	
		
			   DA05  Throwing fireworks  DA06  Drunk and disorderly  DA11  Criminal damage (under £500)  DA12  Theft (retail under £200)  DA13  Breach of fireworks curfew  DA14  Possession of category 4 firework  DA15  Possession by person under 18 of adult firework 
			 Avon and Somerset 4 176 453 1,318 2 1 0 
			 Bedfordshire 3 293 196 437 0 0 0 
			 Cambridgeshire 10 260 147 365 0 0 0 
			 Cheshire 4 124 299 527 0 1 3 
			 Cleveland 3 295 461 684 1 0 0 
			 Cumbria 4 686 226 240 1 0 0 
			 Derbyshire 4 660 502 534 1 0 3 
			 Devon and Cornwall 41 1,876 924 1,753 3 0 1 
			 Dorset 11 165 235 441 0 0 0 
			 Durham 2 511 110 69 0 0 0 
			 Essex 18 859 337 872 2 1 3 
			 Gloucestershire 11 166 406 662 4 0 0 
			 Greater Manchester 63 311 920 1,727 1 3 2 
			 Hampshire 22 501 307 575 0 1 0 
			 Hertfordshire 15 207 696 1,414 0 0 3 
			 Humberside 15 991 696 1,201 0 0 2 
			 Kent 11 1,782 1,131 2,468 1 1 2 
			 Lancashire 24 4,876 1,394 2,242 7 1 2 
			 Leicestershire 1 72 221 488 0 0 1 
			 Lincolnshire 16 96 205 272 5 0 1 
			 London, City of 0 190 6 21 0 0 0 
			 Merseyside 28 3,222 1,097 2,824 1 3 8 
			 Metropolitan 97 3,114 1,179 4,085 3 5 22 
			 Norfolk 0 88 92 284 0 0 0 
			 North Yorkshire 3 876 306 362 3 0 0 
			 Northamptonshire 0 532 311 689 1 1 3 
			 Northumbria 18 3,929 450 515 1 1 0 
			 Nottinghamshire 4 494 126 184 0 0 0 
			 South Yorkshire 27 2,360 332 540 1 0 0 
			 Staffordshire 32 343 312 359 1 1 3 
			 Suffolk 5 345 140 231 2 0 0 
			 Surrey 2 355 280 469 1 0 0 
			 Sussex 31 1,435 478 1,015 5 0 4 
			 Thames Valley 22 237 447 895 2 0 0 
			 Warwickshire 3 58 167 219 0 3 0 
			 West Mercia 17 680 482 922 1 0 0 
			 West Midlands 28 2,541 610 1,258 0 2 1 
			 West Yorkshire 14 3,737 1,163 873 0 0 1 
			 Wiltshire 6 331 33 18 0 0 0 
			 Dyfed Powys 5 286 216 124 0 0 0 
			 Gwent 11 258 271 597 1 1 1 
			 North Wales 24 1,246 538 1,099 1 2 0 
			 South Wales 5 744 752 1,591 0 0 2 
			 England and Wales 664 42,308 19,654 37,463 52 28 68 
		
	
	
		
			   DA16  Sale of alcohol to drunken person  DA17  Supply of alcohol to person under 18  DA18  Sale of alcohol to person under 18  DA19  Purchase alcohol for person under 18  DA20  Purchase alcohol for person under 18 for consumption on premises  DA21  Delivery of alcohol to person under 18 or allowing such delivery 
			 Avon and Somerset 0 3 54 3 1 0 
			 Bedfordshire 0 0 12 1 0 1 
			 Cambridgeshire 1 0 24 2 0 4 
			 Cheshire 0 0 49 3 0 1 
			 Cleveland 0 1 23 5 1 0 
			 Cumbria 6 2 21 7 0 0 
			 Derbyshire 1 0 30 9 3 12 
			 Devon and Cornwall 1 10 115 27 0 8 
			 Dorset 1 1 25 5 1 0 
			 Durham 0 0 1 5 0 0 
			 Essex 0 0 91 6 1 3 
			 Gloucestershire 0 0 39 0 3 3 
			 Greater Manchester 3 1 189 32 8 11 
			 Hampshire 1 2 97 14 1 4 
			 Hertfordshire 0 1 36 19 2 18 
			 Humberside 0 1 47 13 0 4 
			 Kent 1 0 5 0 0 14 
			 Lancashire 4 0 202 22 3 20 
			 Leicestershire 4 0 63 2 2 7 
			 Lincolnshire 0 6 54 7 1 0 
			 London, City of 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Merseyside 0 2 123 14 3 30 
			 Metropolitan 7 4 239 9 0 27 
			 Norfolk 0 0 10 4 0 1 
			 North Yorkshire 1 1 11 10 0 6 
			 Northamptonshire 0 0 32 4 1 4 
			 Northumbria 0 0 79 21 2 7 
			 Nottinghamshire 1 0 239 3 1 2 
			 South Yorkshire 0 0 153 10 0 29 
			 Staffordshire 4 4 75 6 2 8 
			 Suffolk 0 1 20 2 0 0 
			 Surrey 1 0 33 8 0 3 
			 Sussex 1 0 209 18 2 12 
			 Thames Valley 0 2 95 7 0 4 
			 Warwickshire 0 0 5 1 0 1 
			 West Mercia 0 0 31 3 1 7 
			 West Midlands 0 0 143 10 1 5 
			 West Yorkshire 1 1 104 5 4 2 
			 Wiltshire 3 0 18 2 0 0 
			 Dyfed Powys 0 12 5 1 0 1 
			 Gwent 0 1 48 4 1 5 
			 North Wales 5 1 81 51 10 24 
			 South Wales 0 0 116 10 1 6 
			 England and Wales 47 57 3,046 385 56 294 
			 (1) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces and courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 
		
	
	
		
			Lower tier offences 
			   Total lower tier offences  DB03  Trespass on a railway  DB04  Throwing stones at a train/railway  DB05  Drunk in a highway  DB06  old code — Buy alcohol under 16, change to DA19 
			 Avon and Somerset  0 0 64 0 
			 Bedfordshire  1 0 14 0 
			 Cambridgeshire  0 0 67 0 
			 Cheshire  0 0 4 0 
			 Cleveland  0 0 0 0 
			 Cumbria  2 0 25 0 
			 Derbyshire  1 0 9 0 
			 Devon and Cornwall  7 2 240 0 
			 Dorset  1 0 9 0 
			 Durham  0 0 23 0 
			 Essex  8 1 33 0 
			 Gloucestershire  0 0 20 0 
			 Greater Manchester  11 0 24 0 
			 Hampshire  4 0 26 0 
			 Hertfordshire  19 0 15 0 
			 Humberside  0 0 14 0 
			 Kent  4 0 113 0 
			 Lancashire  7 0 106 0 
			 Leicestershire  0 0 2 2 
			 Lincolnshire  0 0 0 0 
			 London, City of  0 0 4 0 
			 Merseyside  8 2 58 2 
			 Metropolitan  22 2 586 0 
			 Norfolk  0 0 24 0 
			 North Yorkshire  2 0 131 0 
			 Northamptonshire  0 0 26 0 
			 Northumbria  1 0 10 1 
			 Nottinghamshire  2 0 11 0 
			 South Yorkshire  1 0 10 0 
			 Staffordshire  8 0 87 0 
			 Suffolk  1 0 26 0 
			 Surrey  4 0 168 0 
			 Sussex  10 1 124 0 
			 Thames Valley  2 0 35 0 
			 Warwickshire  0 0 2 0 
			 West Mercia  3 0 24 0 
			 West Midlands  59 0 103 0 
			 West Yorkshire  4 0 77 0 
			 Wiltshire  0 2 73 0 
			 Dyfed Powys  0 0 98 0 
			 Gwent  3 0 11 0 
			 North Wales  18 0 49 0 
			 South Wales  3 0 77 0 
			 England and Wales  216 10 2,622 5 
		
	
	
		
			   Lower tier offences 
			   DB08  Depositing and leaving litter  DB12  Consumption of alcohol by under 18 on relevant premises  DB13  Allowing consumption of alcohol by under 18 on relevant premises  DB14  Buying or attempting to buy alcohol for person under 18 
			 Avon and Somerset 19 0 0 1 
			 Bedfordshire 4 0 0 0 
			 Cambridgeshire 4 1 0 0 
			 Cheshire 3 0 0 0 
			 Cleveland 9 2 0 0 
			 Cumbria 19 0 0 4 
			 Derbyshire 26 6 0 0 
			 Devon and Cornwall 23 0 0 3 
			 Dorset 21 0 0 1 
			 Durham 1 0 0 0 
			 Essex 31 2 0 1 
			 Gloucestershire 2 2 1 1 
			 Greater Manchester 29 1 0 0 
			 Hampshire 32 0 0 1 
			 Hertfordshire 34 3 0 13 
			 Humberside 15 0 0 2 
			 Kent 35 2 0 1 
			 Lancashire 71 7 0 9 
			 Leicestershire 11 0 0 0 
			 Lincolnshire 11 0 0 2 
			 London, City of 0 0 0 0 
			 Merseyside 90 8 2 7 
			 Metropolitan 228 0 1 0 
			 Norfolk 3 0 0 0 
			 North Yorkshire 7 0 0 1 
			 Northamptonshire 6 0 0 0 
			 Northumbria 49 1 2 2 
			 Nottinghamshire 20 1 1 0 
			 South Yorkshire 79 1 0 0 
			 Staffordshire 24 9 1 7 
			 Suffolk 6 0 0 0 
			 Surrey 5 0 0 1 
			 Sussex 17 1 3 3 
			 Thames Valley 11 0 0 0 
			 Warwickshire 5 10 0 0 
			 West Mercia 30 0 1 5 
			 West Midlands 24 1 0 0 
			 West Yorkshire 34 6 1 0 
			 Wiltshire 2 1 0 1 
			 Dyfed Powys 2 0 0 0 
			 Gwent 14 0 0 1 
			 North Wales 48 3 0 3 
			 South Wales 21 1 0 0 
			 England and Wales 1,125 69 13 70

Special Constables: Greater London

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special constables there are in the Metropolitan Police Service; how many there were in each year since 1997; how many  (a) were and  (b) are civilian staff serving in the Metropolitan Police Service in each year; how many undertook their training and their special constable duties during their normal working hours as civilian staff; and how many received time off in lieu or extra holiday time for their duties as special constables.

Tony McNulty: The available data for the number of special constables in the Metropolitan Police Service in each year since 1997 are given in the table. These data are also published in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin series "Police Service Strength, England and Wales".
	The remainder of the information requested is not collected centrally.
	
		
			  Special constable strength( 1)  for the Metropolitan Police Service as at 31 March 1997 to 31 March 2006 
			  31 March:  Special constables 
			 1997 1,714 
			 1998 1,282 
			 1999 1,138 
			 2000 758 
			 2001 774 
			 2002 680 
			 2003 692 
			 2004 742 
			 2005 697 
			 2006(2) 1,221 
			 (1) Total strength is based on headcount figures. (2) The MPS have held a number of successful special constable recruitment campaigns over the years, the most recent of which ran throughout 2005 and would have been responsible for the increase from 2004-05 to 2005-06. Additionally, some of these changes are thought to be explained by the move from paper-based to computerised recording systems.

Written Questions

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to answer question 107856, on DC Stephen Oake, tabled on 30 November 2006 by the hon. Member for West Bromwich East.

John Reid: holding answer 6 March 2007
	I replied to the hon. Member on 1 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1576W.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Arts

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much funding was allocated to the arts in Northern Ireland in each year since 1997; and what the percentage change was between each year.

Maria Eagle: Funding provided for the arts in Northern Ireland in each year since 1999-2000 is shown in the following table, together with the percentage change between each year. Data for previous years are not readily available. The figures include both revenue funding and capital funding.
	
		
			  Financial year  Total funding provided by Departments  Percentage change 
			 1999-00 8,461,181.46  
			 2000-01 8,245,611 -2.54 
			 2001-02 9,067,800 9.97 
			 2002-03 11,078,537.13 22.17 
			 2003-04 15,151,520.90 36.76 
			 2004-05 14,277,212.91 -5.77 
			 2005-06 14,890,675.62 4.3 
			 2006-07 (1)15,348,890.08 3.1 
			 (1)Provisional 
		
	
	The information provided in the table may be incomplete as the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety do not hold full information prior to 2003-04.
	The Department for Social Development has also provided funding for the arts under Peace II for which details are only available in calendar years. In 2006 £52.4k was provided to the Community Arts Forum. The funding provided by DSD under Peace II for other arts based projects for the period 2002 to date is £565.6k. These figures are not included in the table.

Departments: Internet

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which websites received funding from his Department and its associated agencies in each of the last five years; and how much was allocated in each case.

Peter Hain: The following table show the websites directly funded by the NIO and its agencies in the last five years.
	
		
			  £ 
			  Website  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 www.nio.gov.uk 0 730 (1)51,205 9,118 7,543 
			 www.niprisonservice.gov.uk 14,900 9,100 15,400 5,306 3,600 
			 www.octf.gov.uk 9,104 4,320 360 11,994 3,978 
			 www.causeway.gov.uk 819 773 1,125 879 168 
			 www.cjsni.gov.uk 0 0 0 5,316 5,952 
			 www.littlebookofstuff.org 0 0 0 0 9,000 
			 www.youthjusticeagencyni.gov.uk 0 11,338 1,938 12,069 3,125 
			 www.youthconferenceserviceni.gov.uk 0 7,637 0 193 0 
			 www.sentencereview.org 0 646 1,880 635 552 
			 www.Isrcni.org.uk 376 364 882 834 176 
			 www.communitysafetyni.gov.uk 3,760 0 0 546 2,719 
			 www.howsecureismyhome.com 0 0 0 0 1,145 
			 www.projectrioh.net 0 0 0 (2)26,437 12,214 
			 www.reportinghate.org 0 0 0 120 5,310 
			 (1) This figure includes the costs for a major redesign of the website. (2) This figure includes the costs for the initial design and development of the website.

Departments: Official Hospitality

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures are in place to limit the amount of money spent on alcohol for hospitality purposes by  (a) Ministers and  (b) senior civil servants in each Department in Northern Ireland.

David Hanson: DAO (DFP) 10/06 sets out general principles on the provision of gifts and hospitality, which will include alcohol, and requires each NI Department to have its own guidance and approval processes tailored to suit their business needs. This will cover  (a) Ministers and  (b) senior civil servants where expenditure comes out of the departmental budget.
	NIO has its own guidance and approval process for hospitality (including alcohol) that covers Ministers and senior civil servants.

Departments: Public Expenditure

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what the end of year underspends for 2006-07 were for each of the Northern Ireland Departments;
	(2)  what overspends there were in budget lines of Northern Ireland Departments for 2006-07.

David Hanson: Outturn data, regarding spending by Northern Ireland Departments in 2006-07, will not be available until late May 2007.

Human Trafficking

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the extent of human trafficking in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: Analysis of human trafficking in Northern Ireland is currently under way through the auspices of the OCTF Immigration and Human Trafficking Expert Group to assess the scale of the threat.
	This analysis will update the assessment of a scoping report into human trafficking in 2006 which concluded that Northern Ireland did not, at that time, have an identifiable problem.

Licensed Premises

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many businesses were found to be selling alcohol without a licence to do so in each district council area in Northern Ireland in each of the last six years; and what penalty was imposed in each case in which all proceedings are complete.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is not available in the form requested. The following information has been collated on the basis of two offences:
	selling intoxicating liquor without a licence; and
	licensee making liquor available in unlicensed premises.
	Information is presented by district command unit. PSNI does not have records relating to penalties imposed in all cases.
	
		
			   District command unit  Penalty imposed 
			 2001 (2) Belfast North Community service order 
			  Belfast North Bound over 
			
			 2002 (6) Belfast North No court appearances or court results 
			  Belfast South Imprisonment 
			  Larne No court appearances or court results 
			  Newry and Mourne No court appearances or court results 
			  Newry and Mourne No court appearances or court results 
			  Newry and Mourne Cautioned 
			
			 2003 (7) Armagh Withdrawn 
			  Armagh Withdrawn 
			  Belfast East Cautioned 
			  Belfast South 3 actual or scheduled court appearances but no court result 
			  Belfast South 3 cautioned 
			  Belfast South Fine 
			  Newry and Mourne Cautioned 
			
			 2004 (6) Belfast East Cautioned 
			  Belfast North Cautioned 
			  Belfast South No court appearances or court results 
			  Belfast South Fine 
			  Coleraine Bound over 
			  Fermanagh Fine 
			
			 2005 (5) Newtownards Cautioned 
			  Belfast East Fine 
			  Belfast East Withdrawn 
			  Belfast East Withdrawn 
			  Magherafelt Withdrawn 
			
			 2006 (4) Banbridge Fine 
			  Belfast East Fine 
			  Craigavon Imprisonment 
			  Craigavon Imprisonment

National Income

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of the British gross domestic product comes from Northern Ireland.

David Hanson: Northern Ireland gross value added accounted for 2.3 per cent. of UK gross value added in 2005.

Northern Ireland Social Security Agency

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent assessment he has made of the performance of the Medical Support Service within the Social Security Agency; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: A thorough and detailed analysis of Medical Support Services was completed in January 2007. The conclusion was that while Medical Support Services was currently 'Fit for Purpose' it would not have the capacity or capability to deliver a sufficient level of service to support the extended roll-out of Pathways to Work and the introduction of the new employment and support allowance.

Northern Ireland Social Security Agency

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will abandon plans to outsource the Social Security Agency's medical support service.

David Hanson: As the procurement process has already commenced, there are no plans to abandon the decision to outsource the Medical Support Service within the Social Security Agency.

Open Skies Aviation Agreement

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on the draft Open Skies aviation agreement.

David Cairns: The Secretary of State for Transport has kept colleagues informed of progress with on-going negotiations on the draft EU/US Open Skies aviation agreement.

Right to Buy Schemes

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of tenants who exercised the right to buy were receiving housing benefit in each of the last five years.

David Hanson: The information requested for full financial years is only available from 2004-05. The percentage of tenants receiving housing benefit at the date of completion of the purchase of their home during the last three financial years is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Percentage 
			 2004-05 8.9 
			 2005-06 6.8 
			 2006-07 7.1

St Patrick's Day: Belfast

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much public money was made available to support the Belfast Saint Patrick's day parade and festival in 2006.

Maria Eagle: The St. Patrick's day parade and festival is promoted by Belfast city council and public funding made available to the council for the 2006 event is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   £ 
			  Sponsoring organisation  Amount 
			 Community Relations Unit, OFMDFM 41,376 
			 Arts Council of Northern Ireland 25,000 
			 Laganside Corporation 10,000 
			 Total 76,376